Shinzo Abe, an advocate of tighter ties with Washington and a bigger say for Japan in world affairs, was elected Japan's prime minister by parliament on Tuesday, becoming at 52 the youngest Japanese leader since World War Two. The hawkish Abe, a relative novice by Japanese political standards, faces the challenges of repairing ties with China - frayed by predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine - and keeping economic reforms on track while addressing voter concerns about widening social gaps. "We hope that the new Japanese leader will make efforts to improve China-Japan relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference in Beijing.