China and Japan on Wednesday issued a joint press communique on boosting exchanges and cooperation as a measure to implement the joint statement signed after talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on the same day.

Invitation of leaders to summits

Chinese and Japanese leaders have exchanged invitations to attend summits slated for later this year.

Japan has invited Chinese President Hu to attend a meeting between G8 leaders and leaders from relevant countries in Hokkaido in July and China has invited Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda to attend the seventh Asia-Europe Summit to be held in Beijing in October, said the communique.

The two sides would "seriously" study the invitation from each other, it said.

Japan also proposed to hold a meeting among the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean leaders in Japan this autumn and China would study whether to accept the proposal, the communique said.

The two sides highly evaluated the "significant" role the Sino-Japanese Strategic Dialogue has played in improving and promoting the bilateral relations, saying they would continue to attach importance to the mechanism.

The two sides also welcomed a proposal on strengthening cooperation between media organizations of the two countries.

Foreign ministry spokespersons from China and Japan held negotiations in Tokyo in April and agreed that publicity departments and media organizations of the two countries should strengthen direct contacts and provide objective and accurate information to mass media in the two countries.

Military exchanges

Japan 's defense minister will visit China this year to boost mutual trust between the defense authorities of the two countries, the communique said.

The commander of China's Air Force will visit Japan in June, and the commander of China's Navy and a deputy chief of the General Staff are scheduled to travel to Japan in the second half of this year, it said.

Japanese naval ships will visit China in June, and both sides also agreed to work together toward establishing a maritime liaison mechanism between their defense departments to prevent maritime contingency, the communique said.

China and Japan will also explore ways to broaden exchanges between their armed forces as well as defense-related education and research institutions of the two countries.

With a view to increasing mutual understanding between the defense departments of the two countries, China will invite young officers with the self-defense forces of Japan to visit China while Japan will invite young officers with the Chinese People's Liberation Army to visit Japan , the document said.

Youth exchanges

China and Japan pledged to make contribution to effectively promoting exchanges between the youths of the two countries, the communique said.

The two sides are satisfied with the successful inauguration of the China-Japan Friendly Exchange Year of Youth in 2008, and agreed to launch exchanges of about 4,000 Chinese and Japanese young people each year in the next four years.

China and Japan reached consensus on constantly promoting the friendly exchanges between the youths of the two countries and called on both sides to strengthen cooperation on the issue.

The two sides also agreed that it is of vital significance to further strengthen exchanges between the young and middle-aged cadres of the two countries and they will continually support exchange and cooperation in this field, the communique said.

Economic cooperation

China and Japan agreed to hold the second round of high-level economic dialogue this autumn in Tokyo, as the first such meeting between ministers of the two countries helped boost mutual understanding and set a good example for resolving problems and promoting cooperation last December in Beijing.

The two sides also welcomed an action plan worked out jointly by China, Japan and South Korea on improving business environment in the three countries.

Meanwhile, China and Japan pledged to enhance exchange and cooperation in trade-and-investment-related law and hailed a memorandum between the two sides on the issue.

The two sides also agreed to create a better business environment for small- and medium-sized enterprises in both countries so that they could do business overseas and have more cooperation opportunities.

The communique said that China and Japan will work jointly to push forward the Doha Round of world trade talks in a bid to achieve development goals.

With the world facing many fresh issues and new challenges, a successful conclusion of the Doha talks at the end of this year is in the common interest of all parties involved and is conducive to strengthening the multilateral trade mechanism and maintaining economic stability and growth in the world, the communique said.

Cooperation in food security

China and Japan pledged to strengthen cooperation in food security in a bid to safeguard lives and health of the two peoples, the communique said.

On the dumpling poisoning case, the two countries will continue investigations to find the truth at an early date, it said.

The communique said the two countries are satisfied with their current cooperation in animal and plant quarantine.

They also expressed willingness to enhance exchanges and cooperation in this area and strive to seek proper solution to some existing technical problems so as to boost smooth development of their bilateral trade.

China has officially approved import of Japan 's rice, while Japan has given the go-ahead to China's export of pumpkin to the country. Both countries expressed their welcome to these positive moves, said the document.

Cooperation in improving Japan-DPRK ties

China and Japan agreed to strengthen cooperation in improving Japan 's ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

In the communique, Japan expressed its readiness to solve the outstanding problems in Japan -DPRK relations, including nuclear and humanitarian issues, and settle the problems left over by history and normalize their bilateral ties in line with the Pyongyang Declaration signed with the DPRK in 2002.

Both China and Japan are fully aware of the significance of making progress in Japan -DPRK ties, and China expressed its willingness to offer necessary help to this effect.

The two countries agreed to continue consultation on such issues as the reform of the United Nations following similar consultation in Beijing in April this year.

The two countries also agreed to further their coordination in the destruction of the chemical weapons which were abandoned in China by the Japanese aggressor troops at the end of World War II.

Hu arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday for a five-day "warm-spring" state visit, the first trip by a Chinese president to Japan in a decade.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2008)