Senior Chinese official meets with JAPIT president

BEIJING - Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Yohei Kono, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade (JAPIT), in Beijing on Thursday.

Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that the bilateral relations are at a new crucial juncture.

Wang said that there is a saying in China that calls for upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground.

For China-Japan relations, upholding fundamental principles means adhering to the principles set out in the four political documents between China and Japan, consolidating the political foundation for the sound development of bilateral relations, taking history as a mirror, looking into the future, and sticking to the path of peaceful development, said Wang.

To break new ground is to build bilateral relations that meet the requirements of the new era based on fundamental principles, remain undisturbed by external distractions, implement the political consensus that China and Japan are cooperative partners rather than threats to each other, and jointly safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in Asia, he said.

Wang expressed the hope that Kono and the JAPIT will strengthen confidence in cooperation, oppose "decoupling economies or severing supply chains," and make new contributions to the improvement and development of China-Japan relations.

Kono said that Japan-China relations have come a long way and cooperation has brought benefits to both sides. The business community does not agree with the politicization of economic issues, and "decoupling economies or severing supply chains" is in the interests of no one.

He hailed China's development momentum and vitality, saying the two sides should make joint efforts to improve and promote Japan-China relations and cooperation in Asia.