Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, in a meeting with a former speaker of Japan's Lower House, has stressed that bilateral trade relations should not be affected by the recent assault by a Chinese man on Japanese nationals. The vice premier called for more investment from Japanese businesses.

Vice Premier He welcomed an 87-member Japanese delegation led by former Lower House speaker Kono Yohei in Beijing on Monday. The delegates were from Japan's Association for the Promotion of International Trade.

According to association officials, Kono expressed his condolences for a Chinese woman who died after she tried to shield a Japanese mother and her child from the attacker with a knife in the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province on June 24. The Chinese woman was an attendant on a bus used by a Japanese school.

Kono asked the Chinese side to determine whether Japanese nationals were the intended targets of the attack.

The vice premier said he was told by Chinese officials that the assault was an "accidental incident." He stressed the need to prevent bilateral trade ties from being affected by it.

Kono also asked Beijing to give clear explanations on how its revised counterespionage legislation is being enforced, and also to resume a short-term visa waiver program for Japanese nationals.

But the vice premier did not give any specific answers to the requests.