Wang Chen (right), minister of the State Council Information Office, Miyamoto Yuji (middle), ex-Japanese ambassador to China, and Yoshito Sengoku (left), chief Cabinet secretary of Japan, converse on Sunday ahead of the sixth annual Beijing-Tokyo Forum in the Japanese capital.  [China Daily]

Recalling efforts to establish a communication channel between Beijing and Tokyo six years ago to revive relations damaged after a former Japanese prime minister visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary on Sunday assured Chinese elites he would help ensure successful cooperation between Japan and China.

"Such cooperation should help China realize its grand target, a real green economy that makes sure of development of both the economy and environment," Yoshito Sengoku told Chinese and Japanese representatives attending a reception for a major forum on China-Japan relations.

Sengoku, one of the founders of the Beijing-Tokyo forum, said he joined the founding team in 2005 when "a mechanism of sincere talks" with Beijing was needed to revive relations.

Bilateral ties hit a nadir then because former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi repeatedly visited Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead including war criminals of World War II.

Now the forum is a major platform for public diplomacy between the two nations. It will see nearly 200 leaders from the political, business, academic and media fields take part in a two-day discussion starting Monday in Tokyo. More than 800 students and journalists have applied for a seat to listen to the panel discussions.

Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda is scheduled to make a keynote speech.

Jointly initiated by China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese think tank similar to the Council on Foreign Relations in the US, the annual forum will focus on "the future of Asia and contributions from China and Japan" this year.

Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said at the reception that he noticed the result of a survey affiliated to the forum released earlier this month showed a noticeable increase in the importance people of both sides gave to ties between the two nations.

"It reflects that the development of relations between China and Japan" matches public opinion, "and that is what people really want," he said.