Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stressed the importance of a close relationship between Japanese and U.S. leaders on Wednesday in his meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner ahead of his talks in Tokyo with U.S. President Barack Obama.

"A close bond between Japanese and U.S. leaders is important for the peace and economy of the world," Hatoyama told Geithner at the start of their meeting at the prime minister's office.

Geithner replied that Obama is willing to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

Hatoyama and Geithner also agreed on the importance for Japan, the United States and other major industrialized nations to align with each other to achieve sustainable development of the global economy, Japanese officials said.

Hatoyama also told the U.S. treasury secretary that the Japanese government recognizes the need to take fiscal measures to attain stable growth led by domestic demand, but also the importance of recovering fiscal health battered by large-scale stimulus measures the country has adopted in the past, the officials said.

"Under the circumstances, our government is working together in cutting waste (in administrative works)," Hatoyama told Geithner, according to the Japanese officials.

Earlier in the day, Geithner, who is in Tokyo before Obama's visit on Friday, also met with Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan and assured Japan that the United States is not reinforcing its ties with China at the expense of Japan, according to Kan.

"I said (to Geithner) that close China-U.S. relations contribute to Japan," Kan told reporters.

Kan also told Geithner that Hatoyama's call for an East Asian community is aimed at stabilizing Asia, he said.