China announces President Hu to attend G-8 summit in Japan

BEIJING, July 2 Kyodo - Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend next week's Group of Eight summit in Japan, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.

Hu accepted an invitation to attend from Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda,
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters.

''During his attendance at the session he will meet many national leaders on
the sidelines of the meeting. The specific arrangements are now under
discussion,'' said Liu.

The summit is to be held in Hokkaido, northern Japan, from July 7 to 9 and
topics to be discussed include climate change and the world economy.

The G-8 is a group of rich countries made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Russia, Britain and the United States. The Europe Union is also
regularly represented at its meetings.

Hu is one of a number of world leaders outside the G-8 planning to visit the
forum, including the South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.

The Chinese president last visited Japan in May for a five-day state visit, the
first Chinese head of state to visit Japan in a decade.==Kyodo