Hisham Sharaf, the country’s deputy minister of planning and international cooperation, met with Japanese and Chinese diplomats over the past week to discuss means of improving Yemen’s bilateral relations with the two Asian countries. On Sept. 7, Sharaf conferred with the deputy ambassador of Japan to Yemen, during which he lauded Japan for increasing its aid to the country. Meanwhile, in his meeting with China’s commercial and economic attache to Yemen, Sharaf discussed the progress of development projects that China is funding. The two also talked about proposals for new joint programs for 2011, Saba News says.