Visiting Chinese Leader Li Ruihuan said on December 10 that enhancing Sino-Japanese economic cooperation is in the interest of the two countries' development efforts.

Li, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks here in a speech at a reception hosted in his honor by Japan's Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren).

China and Japan have made remarkable achievements in economic cooperation in recent years, Li said, adding that bilateral economic relations have entered a period of stable development.

Japan has been China's largest trade partner for six years, while China has become Japan's second largest trade partner, Li pointed out.

Sino-Japanese economic cooperation is conducive to the development of the economies and good-neighborliness of the two countries and to the stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large, the Chinese leader said.

Li said that China and Japan, two neighbors separated by a strip of water, have similar cultures and traditions. He added that Japan, with its advanced technologies, rich management experience and abundant capital, can supplement China's needs in economic development.

Takashi Imai, head of the Japanese economic organization, said at the reception that Japan-China relationship is most important for the Japanese economic community in the 21st century.

Imai also said that the Keidanren has consistently supported China's early entry into the World Trade Organization because such a move will help speed up China's reform and openness and expand the economic ties between Japan and China.