Japan Should Hold Active Attitude to China's Development: Japanese PM

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 05, 2002

Japan Should Hold Active Attitude to China's Development: Japanese PM

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday in Kokyo that Japan should hold an active attitude to China's rapid development and Japan and China should strengthen their cooperation for a win-win result.
Li Peng expressed his optimism over the development of Sino-Japanese ties and confidence to the growth of bilateral friendship in the new century.

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Japan Should Hold Active Attitude to China's Development: Japanese PM

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday in Kokyo that Japan should hold an active attitude to China's rapid development and Japan and China should strengthen their cooperation for a win-win result.

Koizumi made the remarks in his meeting with Li Peng, chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Already visiting China for several times, Koizumi said he had witnessed China's stunning changes after the reform and opening-up drive.

He expressed his disagreement on the rhetoric that China's rapid development poses a threat to Japan. According to Koizumi, Japan's economy also had a rapidly growing period in history, but such development was conducive to not only Japan but also other countries for more opportunities of cooperation were available for all parties.

Japan and China each has its own economic advantages, he said. After China's admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the two countries could strengthen cooperation in more areas and such cooperation could play a positive role for the growth of economies in Asia and the world at large, he said.

He said that Japanese-Chinese friendship is of vital importance for Japan. He and his cabinet vowed to make greater efforts for the development of Japanese-Chinese friendly relations in the new century.

This is the second meeting of Li and Koizumi within three days. The two leaders jointly launched the Chinese Cultural Year in Japan and the Japanese Cultural Year in China, a key cultural exchange event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic ties between China and Japan.

Prospect of Sino-Japanese Ties Optimistic

Li Peng expressed his optimism over the development of Sino-Japanese ties and confidence to the growth of bilateral friendship in the new century.

Li noted that the mission of his visit is to discuss with the Japanese side on how to further develop bilateral relationship between China and Japan. "We these days exchanged views with people from all walks of life in Japan, got warm and active response and reached consensus on quite a number of issues," he said.

China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and attaches importance to the friendly relations with all neighboring countries, including Japan, an important country in Asia, he said.

Amidst the tide of multipolarization and economic globalization, Li said, the enhanced cooperation between China and Japan not only meets the interests of the two countries but also makes contribution to the revitalization and prosperity of Asia.

Li briefed Koizumi on China's domestic situation, in particular measures adopted by the country to deepen reform and widen opening-up after its entry into the World Trade Organization.

"Japan also carries out profound and all-round reform and China hopes the Japanese economy to see recovery soon," he said.

Li conveyed greetings from Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji to Koizumi.

The Japanese PM expressed thanks and said he was now arranging another visit to China.

Li was on a week-long visit to Japan as guest of the Japanese Diet.

Bilateral Relations between China and Japan

Political Relationship: Date of Normalization of Sino-Japanese Relations: September 29,1972.

At present, the Sino-Japanese relations have, on the whole, witnessed smooth development. The friendly exchanges and mutually beneficiary cooperation in various areas have made constant progress, which have not only brought about significant interests to the two countries, but also made positive contributions to the regional peace, stability and development and the world as well.

Bilateral Trade: Japan is our greatest trade partner, while China remains as the second biggest to Japan. The bilateral trade volume in 1997 amounted to 60.8 billion US dollars, a record high in history. In 1998, the total volume of Sino-Japanese trade was 57.89 billion US dollars, decreased by 4.8% compared with that of the previous year. The export volume to Japan was 29.69 billion US dollars against an import of 28.2 billion dollars, enjoying a trade surplus of 1.5 billion US dollars, 47.7% lower than that of the previous year. >>more information

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