Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Thursday responded to a question regarding the visit to Japan of Hu Deping, a former official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), urging Japan to show its sincerity and take solid actions to put China-Japan ties back on track.

Media reports say Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with Hu, former deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, in Tokyo on Tuesday and expressed Japan's willingness to improve relations with China.

Hong told a routine press briefing that Hu was invited to visit Japan for people-to-people exchange activities.

China's position on China-Japan ties is very clear, said the spokesman.

"We urge Japan to abide by the principles of the four China-Japan political documents, appropriately settle existing problems, show sincerity and take concrete measures to remove political barriers for bilateral ties caused by the Japanese side itself, to put ties back on track," Hong said.