Japan's new Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said on Wednesday that Japan is willing to improve relations with China and South Korea.

According to the Kyodo News, Shiozaki hoped that Japan-China and Japan-South Korea summit talks could be resumed.

The summit talks have been suspended since last year due to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals.

After Shinzo Abe was elected new Prime Minister on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that China hopes Japan's new leader to make efforts to improve and develop bilateral relations.

Abe pledged to improve relations with Japan's Asian neighbors while campaigning for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Qin said Japan knows very well the obstacles to the development of its relationship with China, urging Abe to meet his words with actions.

Abe won a landslide victory in the LDP's presidential election on Sept. 20, and was elected new Prime Minister in an extra plenary Diet session on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua