Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan on Sunday met former Japanese
Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and Chairman of the General Council of
the Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai.
Tang said the Chinese government has attached great importance
to developing relationship with Japan that features long-term
stability, good neighborhood, friendship and cooperation, adding
that China will stick to the principle of "peaceful coexistence,
friendship from generation to generation, mutually beneficial
cooperation and common development" proposed by the Chinese
President Hu Jintao and make joint efforts together with
Japan to comprehensively promote the strategic and mutually
beneficial relationship between the two countries.
Tang said at the time of the 35th anniversary of the
normalization of the China-Japan diplomatic relations, he hoped the
two countries could keep high-level contact and mutual visits,
continuously expand mutually beneficially cooperation in all
fields, greatly promote non-governmental exchanges, enhance the
friendship between the two peoples, and push forward the sound and
stable development of bilateral relations.
Kaifu and Nikai said Japan is happy to see the current
improvement in and development momentum of Japan-China relations
and hopes to take the anniversary as the opportunity for
comprehensively promoting the exchanges and cooperation between the
two countries. They would organize the activities through which
nearly 20,000 Japanese would come to visit China this year.
Kaifu and Nikai came to China at the invitation of the China
National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Shao Qiwei, director of
CNTA and Cui Tiankai, Chinese assistant foreign minister also
attended the meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2007)