Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Yukio Hatoyama after his election as Japan's 93rd prime minister.

"As each other's important neighbor, efforts to deepen the mutual trust and cooperation between China and Japan are in keeping with the fundamental interests of both nations and their peoples," Wen said in his message.

Wen expressed hope that Japan and China could work together to push for fresh developments in their Strategic Relations of Mutual Benefit starting from a new historic threshold.

Hatoyama, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), succeeded on Wednesday Taro Aso of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as the country's new prime minister.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also sent a congratulatory message to his newly appointed Japanese counterpart, Katsuya Okada.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2009)