Beijing, October 22: Around 500 Japanese business leaders will accompany Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he visits Beijing this week, amid an ongoing China-US trade feud that is hurting industries on both sides.

A Japanese government official speaking on routine condition of anonymity says Abe's three-day visit starting Thursday will mark a further step in returning bilateral relations to a "normal trajectory" following a 2012 spat over ownership of uninhabited East China Sea islands. China Says Can't Hold US Trade Talks with 'Knife to the Throat'.

China is Japan's biggest trade partner and that relationship has taken on added importance following President Donald Trump's decision to raise tariffs on USD 250 billion of Chinese goods.

Beijing responded with its own tariff hikes on USD 110 billion of American imports. The official says North Korea will also be among the issues discussed by the two leaders.