Premier Wen plays baseball with Japanese PM

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao plays baseball with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda (not in the picture) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on Dec. 29, 2007. (Xinhua Photo)

Wen made an immediate response that he would find an opportunity to throw and catch baseballs with Fukuda.

Wen played baseball with Japanese college students during his "ice-thawing" trip to Japan, when he especially wore a No. 35 sport suit to mark the 35th anniversary of the normalization of the China-Japan relations.

Fukuda will visit a primary school in northeastern Beijing after the play before leaving for an economic development zone in Tianjin, home to many Japanese-funded companies.

He will also visit the hometown of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province, before wrapping up his four-day China tour on Sunday.

The China tour was the third overseas trip of Fukuda after he took office three months ago. He visited the United States and Singapore before.

A book on Wen's April visit to Japan, titled "Baseball Player No.35: Wen Jiabao", was published recently in Japan.