China has executed a Japanese man convicted of drug smuggling, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

He is the first Japanese citizen to be put to death in China since diplomatic ties between the two countries were re-established in 1972.

Mitsunobu Akano was executed in northeast Liaoning Province.

Both Japan and China employ the death penalty, but Japanese officials said they feared a possible impact on ties after the execution.

Xinhua reported that Akano, 65, was caught illegally carrying more than 1.5kg of "stimulant drugs" at an airport in Dalian in September 2006.

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