LOS CABOS, Mexico --Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Sunday warned Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi never again to visit a shrine in Tokyo that honors fallen soldiers including convicted World War II criminals.

Jiang said he would back Japanese efforts to resolve a nuclear weapons crisis in North Korea through dialogue, but he warned that the Chinese population as, a whole, was disturbed by the homage paid to the Yasukuni Shrine.

On what could be his last appearance on the world stage, Jiang rammed home the point three times during the meeting, forcing the two leaders to extend their scheduled 20-minute meeting by half an hour, said a Japanese official who was present.

The war shrine had not been on the Japanese agenda, officials said.

The Chinese leader said Tokyo should not forget its wartime history and strongly pressed Koizumi never again to visit the shrine.

"It is a problem which disturbs the feeling of 1.3 billion Chinese people. I want to say this today without diplomatic niceties," Jiang said. "Please consider what I said."

Asian countries, led by China and South Korea, have expressed fury at Koizumi's two visits to the shrine since taking office last year, AFP reported. Jiang said Beijing and Tokyo must look forward to the future "viewing history as a mirror." The Chinese leader added: "In the past, we have the history that Japan's Military invaded China. We have a difficult past."

Japan and China this year celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Koizumi defended his visit to the shrine, saying: "I am not visiting Yasukuni for the souls of specific individuals." But he agreed that future relations must recognize the two countries' history.

Japan is responsible for a brutal occupation of large parts of China from 1937-1945, a period during which, Beijing says, 35 million Chinese nationals were killed.

While trade between the two countries has reached record levels and Japan is now China's largest trading partner, their wartime history continues to plague relations, with Beijing believing Japan has not faced up to its history of aggression.

Jiang, nevertheless, indicated he could support Japan's dialogue with North Korea, which recently revealed it is pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

"China has maintained friendly relationships with North Korea and influence on the country. I would like you to give us advice and support for Japan-North Korea talks," Koizumi asked Jiang.

Japan plans to resume normalization talks with North Korea on Tuesday, a follow-up to a landmark summit between Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang last month.

Koizumi has promised to use the opportunity to press North Korea to abandon any ambitions for nuclear weaponry.

"China's stance to the issue is consistent. We support non-nuclear policy on the Korean peninsula. It is necessary to solve the issue peacefully," Jiang replied.