China praises Fukuda for 'great contributions'

China yesterday praised Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's "great contributions" to reviving bilateral ties and expects this momentum to continue despite his resignation on Monday.

"Recently, through the joint efforts of the two governments and people from various fields, China-Japan relations have witnessed sound development with deepening strategic and mutually beneficial relations," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular press conference.

"Prime Minister Fukuda has made great contributions to that and we think highly of him."