Japan and China should push ahead strategic cooperation so as to resolve the disputes in their bilateral relations, visiting Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan Hidenao Nakagawa said in Beijing Friday.

There are disputes in Japan-China relations, Nakagawa said, who compared these disputes to "drift ice".

"In order to prevent the drift ice from becoming ice wall or icicle, we should build strategic and mutually beneficial relationship so as to remove the worries through stressing the common interests between us," Nakagawa said.

Nakagawa made the remarks when delivering a speech at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

As part of the bilateral strategic cooperation, Nakagawa said, he proposed to push forward the energy and resources cooperation such as joint exploitation of oil and gas.

He also said the two countries should also step up cooperation in other areas, such as energy conservation, new energy exploration, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and outer space exploration.

To build up the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship, a long period of time is needed for both the Japanese and the Chinese people to realize its importance, Nakagawa said.

Nakagawa and Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner New Komeito, arrived here Thursday for a five-day visit to China, to prepare for the upcoming Japan visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April.

Source: Xinhua