Beijing  - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday urged Japanese people to remain calm in the face of the growing international swine flu epidemic and promised close cooperation with China on preventing the spread of the virus.

   "The Japanese government shall take all necessary measures ... and I call on the Japanese people to remain calm in dealing with the situation," Aso told reporters in Beijing.

   Japan will make its preventative measures "even more watertight" and use them "in a flexible manner" if swine flu cases are found in the country, he said after talks on Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

   "China and Japan will exchange information and cooperate in prevention (of swine flu)," Aso said.

   "We agreed that in view of the seriousness of the situation our two countries will cooperate," he said.

   The Japanese government on Thursday stepped up its efforts to block a swine-flu outbreak by setting up fever clinics, tightening inspections of pig imports and increasing its antiviral stockpiles.

   Japan, China and all other Asian nations have so far reported no confirmed human cases of swine flu.