Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left Tokyo on Sunday morning for a two-day official visit to China.

China and Japan have reached an agreement on tackling the political obstacles that had blocked the development of bilateral ties and on boosting the development of the friendly cooperation between them, Liu Jianchao, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said earlier.

Abe, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, headed for China for his first foreign trip after he took office on September 26.

The Japanese leader will also visit South Korea after his Beijing trip.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2006)