BEIJING (AP) - China anticipates stronger relations with rival Japan’s new government and is ready to boost cooperation between the East Asian economic giants, Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday.

In remarks to a visiting Japanese business delegation, China’s top economic official said Beijing appreciates the "active attitude" of the leader of the new ruling party, the Democratic Party of Japan, toward relations with China.

The Democratic Party of Japan won a sweeping victory in Aug. 30 parliamentary elections. The party is headed by Yukio Hatoyama, who is expected to be selected as Japan’s next prime minister in a party vote on Sept. 16.

Wen said China expects to work with Japan to enhance mutual trust and push forward strategic relations, according to remarks posted on the central government’s Web site.

China is Japan’s largest trade partner, while Japan is a top investor in China. The two countries, together with South Korea,

Russia and the United States, are involved in now-stalled negotiations with North Korea over its development of nuclear weapons.

Japan-China relations plunged in the first half of the past decade due to disagreements about wartime history, conflicting territorial claims over a disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea and other squabbles. The two countries have made progress in defusing those conflicts.