Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu confirmed Thursday that presidents of China and the Unites States will meet on the sidelines of the G-8 Summit.

"The heads of state will exchange views on Sino-U.S. relations and major international and regional issues of common concern," said Jiang at a routine press conference.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the outreach session of the G-8 Summit in St.Petersburg, Russia from July 16 to 17. The session will discuss energy security, prevention and control of epidemic diseases, education, African development and other topics.

On the sidelines of the summit, Hu will hold a trilateral meeting with leaders from Russia and India as well as a group meeting with leaders from India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and the Republic of Congo.

However, China ruled out the possible meeting between President Hu and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during summit.

"We are busy arranging a series of bilateral meeting, but up to now China-Japan meeting is not included in the arrangement," said Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai at a news briefing on Wednesday.

"There exist severe difficulties in China-Japan relations. I think we all know clearly the obstacles and crux of the difficulties," Cui said.

Sino-Japanese relations have been soured by Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead, including 14 convicted class A war criminals in World War II, are honored.

The leaders of the two countries halted exchange of visits following Koizumi's homage at the war shrine soon after he took office in 2001.

Asked about the cooperation between China and the Group of Eight, Jiang said China will enhance cooperation with the industrialized nations, which have played roles in international affairs.

China will continue to increase dialogue and cooperation with the Group of Eight on the basis of equality and mutual benefits, Jiang added.

China hoped that the summit could meet the concerns of all parties, particularly the concerns of the developing countries, said Jiang.

Source: Xinhua