The missile destroyer “Shenzhen,” named after the booming city, left Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, yesterday and will visit Japan from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, Xinhua said. It did not say where it would dock.

Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian, vice chief of staff of the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy, led 345 officials and soldiers on the trip.

During their four-day stay in Japan, Chinese naval officials and soldiers will conduct military exchanges with their counterparts from the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The two sides will also visit each other’s ships and the two military bands will give joint performances. The “Shenzhen” will be open to the public.

The visit opens a new page in the history of the often rocky bilateral relations between China and Japan, and is an important part of celebrations to mark the 35th anniversary of the normalization of the two sides’ diplomatic relations.

The “Shenzhen” is a modern missile destroyer, designed and made by China. It has visited 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe since it was put into service April 1999.

China and Japan first planned naval exchanges in October 2000. However, due to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s annual visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Class-A war criminals are among those honored, China suspended in April 2002 the plan for the mutual visits.(SD-Agencies)