President Meets Japanese Visitors

President Meets Japanese Visitors

President Jiang Zemin met Saturday afternoon with Japanese Transport Minister Toshihiro Nikai and President of the Japan-China Friendship Association Hirayama Ikuo.

Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao and Vice-Premier Qian Qichen were among those at the meeting.

The two Japanese guests, along with some 5,000 other Japanese visitors, are here to attend activities related to cultural and tourist exchanges between the two countries.

Nikai said that he was honored to be part of a Japanese delegation visiting China, and to have this opportunity to share ideas with Chinese leaders on promoting friendship and expanding the vision of Sino-Japanese relations.

Pointing to President Jiang's 1998 state visit to Japan and former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's China visit last year, he said that Sino-Japanese relations have been developing smoothly since the normalization of relations in 1972, and these two visits laid solid foundation for the development of Sino- Japanese relations in the 21st century.

He said that the Yoshiro Mori cabinet will strictly follow the principles set out in the China-Japan Joint Statement, the China- Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and the China-Japan Joint Declaration, noting that the Japanese government will do its utmost to promote a Sino-Japanese friendly and cooperative partnership devoted to peace and development.



The members of the delegation also will work for the growth of Sino-Japanese friendship when they are back home, he said.



Extending his welcome to the delegation, Jiang said that this China visit is unprecedented in the history of exchanges between the people of the two countries in terms of number and scope, reflecting the Japanese government's positive attitude toward developing Sino-Japanese friendly ties, and the Japanese people's enthusiasm about devoting themselves to the cause of Sino-Japanese friendship.

He said he believes that the visit will play an important role in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries.

Jiang said that China and Japan are neighbors linked by a strip of waters, the people of the two countries have more than 2,000 years of friendly exchanges, and their respective cultures have a long history.

Despite an unfortunate period in bilateral relations, good- neighborliness between the two countries has predominated, Jiang said. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the late Chairman Mao Zedong and late Premier Zhou Enlai, Comrade Deng Xiaoping, as well as the current Chinese leadership paid, and is paying, much attention to maintaining and developing Sino- Japanese friendship and cooperation as well as promoting people-to- people exchanges between the two countries, Jiang added.



Jiang pointed out that under the current circumstances, the promotion of mutual understanding and friendly cooperation between the two countries and their people conforms to the fundamental interest of the two peoples and their descendants, and benefits development as well as regional and world peace.

Jiang said that during his state visit to Japan in 1998, he and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, in the spirit of learning from history and facing the future, established a friendly and cooperative partnership devoted to peace and development. And during Keizo Obuchi's China tour last year, the two sides clarified the key points and direction for furthering fruitful cooperation between Japan and China in all fields, he added.

Jiang voiced his hope that the Sino-Japanese relationship in the 21st century will develop well with the common efforts of the governments and people of the two countries.

Jiang emphasized that Sino-Japanese friendship is basically the friendship between the two peoples. While the two countries were achieving the normalization of diplomatic ties, and in the following years of the development of bilateral relations, unofficial exchanges between the two countries continued to play an important role in promoting this relationship.

He said that China is pleased to see that by adapting to the new situation and changes in recent years, these unofficial friendly exchanges have been promoted in diversified forms, and have scored positive achievements.

Looking forward to the future, Jiang said the development of Sino-Japanese friendship relies on the people of the two countries, especially the youth."We should not only maintain our traditional friendship, but also further friendly exchanges between our youth so as to foster successors for the cause of Sino-Japanese friendship."

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, President of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Qi Huaiyuan, Director of National Tourism Administration He Guangwei, Deputy Head of the International Department of CPC Central Committee Li Chengren, and Japanese Ambassador to China Sakutaro Tanino were among those attending the meeting.