He will spend about three days in each country, departing in late February and returning to the United Kingdom in early March.
The 32-year-old royal will travel without his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, née Kate Middleton, as she will be about six months pregnant with the couple’s second child at that time.
Prince William will undertake engagements in Tokyo and in other parts of Japan to focus on UK-Japan relations, commerce and cultural exchange and to combat illegal wildlife trade.
The third in line to the throne will then officially open the GREAT Festival of Creativity at Shanghai’s Long Museum in China on Monday, March 2. The Duke will also undertake engagements in Beijing.
The Shanghai GREAT Festival of Creativity, part of the GREAT Britain campaign, aims to give over 500 of Britain’s most innovative businesses the opportunity to reach potential Chinese partners and demonstrate how British creativity can help businesses innovate and grow.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited Japan in October 2008, but the last time a senior royal made the journey to China was when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited in 1986.
