Japan's Finance Minister Koriki Jojima said that the pullout of top Chinese officials from International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings this week is "regrettable."

He said, "As was noted in the question, I was told that Finance Minister Xie Xuren and Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan would not be attending. As the Tokyo meetings are very important meetings, having a country's representatives not participate is very regrettable."

Instead, China's deputy central bank governor Yi Gang and Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao will be leading the central bank's delegation later this week.

China's major banks, including the big four state-owned banks, will also be absent from the meeting. Relations with Japan deteriorated sharply in September after Japan's illegal "purchase" of the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands in the East China Sea.

World Bank President Jim Yong -kim called for more co-operation between Asia's two biggest economies. Japan is hosting the IMF and World Bank annual meetings for the first time in nearly half a century.

About 20,000 people are expected, making the event one of the world's largest international conferences.

(CNTV.cn October 10, 2012)