Japan says it hopes to communicate closely with China including with Wang Yi

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan hopes to communicate closely with China, including with its newly named foreign minister and veteran diplomat Wang Yi, the top government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“It is important to build a constructive and stable relationship with China through mutual efforts,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

China on Tuesday named Wang to replace Qin Gang, who had not been seen in public since June 25.

Wang, who was Qin’s predecessor, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi agreed to resume high-level trilateral talks with South Korea on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Indonesia earlier this month.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)