The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, yesterday laid a wreath at a Beijing war memorial during a one-visit to China.
Mr Koizumi was escorted under heavy security from Beijing airport to the Marco Polo Bridge, the site of a battle in 1937 at the start of the Japanese invasion.
Mr Koizumi then visited a memorial hall for the 1937-1945 struggle, known in China as the War of Anti-Japanese Resistance.
"I visited with a sincere feeling of regret and condolences toward the Chinese people who were sacrificed by the invasion," he told reporters.