Chinese Vice-President Meets Japanese Guests

Chinese Vice-President Meets Japanese Guests

Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao met Monday with a delegation from the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund led by Setsuya Tabuchi and Yohei Sasakawa.

Hu, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, praised the fund for its long-term efforts on promoting the Sino-Japanese friendship.

Thanks to the efforts of both sides, Hu said, Sino-Japanese relations have seen constant growth in recent years.

To draw lessons from history for future developments, Hu said, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the Japanese leader reached a consensus for the build-up of a friendly and cooperative partnership devoted to peace and development during Jiang's trip to Japan in 1998. "The consensus blueprinted an all-round, concrete cooperation between the two countries and brought Sino-Japanese relations up to a new phase," Hu added.

At the turn of the century, Sino-Japanese relations have seen new opportunities and certain problems have also deserved attention from both sides, he said.

He also said that the two countries should strengthen contacts, deepen understanding, expand mutual trust and overcome obstacles.

"The Sino-Japanese relations will witness a long-term and stable development, should the two countries honor the spirit set forth in the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the 1978 Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the 1998 Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration and proceed from the overall situation of maintaining Sino-Japanese friendship," he added.

He was confident that Premier Zhu Rongji's forthcoming visit to Japan will be an impetus to Sino-Japanese relations.

Tabuchi and Sasakawa briefed Hu on the work of the fund and expressed their willingness to play an active role in promoting Sino-Japanese friendly relations and people-to-people contacts.

The Japanese guests arrived in Beijing yesterday for a work meeting at the invitation of the China Association for International Friendly Contacts.

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