China president Hu thanks Japanese quake rescuers

SAPPORO, Japan (Reuters) - Chinese president Hu Jintao thanked on Tuesday Japanese rescue teams that had searched for survivors of a devastating earthquake in May, soothing ties after a mix-up that saw the Japanese rescue no one.

"Friends, Chinese people will always remember you," Hu told Japanese rescuers who met him on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, where the Chinese president is to attend G8 meetings.

"I hope to build on Sino-Japanese cooperation in this disaster and further deepen relations between the two countries."

Foreign rescuers were not allowed into Sichuan until May 16, past the critical 72 hours following the 7.9 magnitude quake that left more than 80,000 people dead or missing.

But China's willingness to accept foreign help at all was still unusual, even as it mobilized its own troops in a massive effort to feed and house more than 5 million people left homeless.

"We regret that we were unable to save anyone, but we were glad that we were able to fulfill our international responsibility," rescue team representative Koizumi Takashi said.

Although their specialty was searching among urban rubble, the Japanese were initially sent to search for victims under the mud and rocks of a landslide in northeast Sichuan.

A Japanese foreign ministry official at the time blamed "communication difficulties".

Respectful treatment of the corpses found by the Japanese won them praise in Chinese media and Internet chatrooms, helping warm often difficult Sino-Japanese relations.

Ties between the neighbors have been strained by a range of issues, mostly dating back to Japan's occupation of parts of China last century, but they have improved in recent years along with flourishing business ties.

In 1995, Japan's government came under fire for initial confusion that delayed foreign rescue teams' entrance to the country after the magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Kobe that killed more than 6,400.

(Editing by Hugh Lawson)