The Chief of Staff of Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF), Admiral Keiji Akahoshi, is to visit China for the first time, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD).

An MoD spokesperson confirmed on 8 July that Adm Akahoshi would visit Beijing, Ningbo and Shanghai between 13 and 16 July at the invitation of Admiral Wu Shengli, the chief of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

The visit comes as the latest in a series of confidence-building measures between the two navies, which have included ground-breaking port calls made by Chinese and Japanese destroyers in 2007 and 2008.