Premier Wen Jiabao said China will consider reducing the debt owed to it by Iraq out of humanitarian concern during his meeting with visiting US president's special envoy James Baker.

Wen told Baker, who also served as US secretary of state from 1989 to 1992, that China fully understands the difficulties of reconstruction in Iraq and the situation of the Iraqi people.

President Hu Jintao shakes hands with visiting US president's special envoy James Baker. [Xinhua]

Baker said the reconstruction process would benefit the Iraqi people and help achieve regional peace, which would also serve the common interests of the United States and China.

In a separate meeting with Baker, President Hu Jintao vowed yesterday that China would continue, together with the international community, to help reconstruction efforts and the restoration of peace and stability in Iraq as soon as possible.

Hu told Baker that the prompt restoration of peace, stability and reconstruction was the common expectation of the international community.

Hu said China and the United States should maintain frequent exchanges and close communication on international and regional issues to foster the development of a constructive partnership as well as world peace and stability.

Baker said the two countries co-operated well on issues such as Iraq and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

For its part Tokyo said it would join the US initiative to cut Iraq's debt.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made the pledge in a meeting held in Japan Baker.

Japan is owed about US$4.1 billion by Iraq, excluding penalty payments, which in theory would lift the figure to about US$7 billion.

The United States, struggling with a worsening insurgency in Iraq, sees freeing the country of its estimated US$120 billion foreign debt burden as key to helping revive the economy.

President George W. Bush dispatched Baker to major creditor nations earlier this month to try to reach an international agreement.

Iraq is the most heavily indebted country in the world in terms of its population.

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