(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-09 19:52

Xi'an -- The 15th Japanese "Great Wall" Program delegation visited Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Sunday.

"The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has enjoyed good relations with the Communist Party of China," said Japanese Senator Takeshi Maeda, "I think the cooperation and exchanges between the two parties and the peoples of Japan and China are conducive to maintaining the world peace, especially Asia."

The acting leader of DPJ Nanto Kan found the tree that he planted near the city wall in 1999 when he visited Xi'an.

The delegation visited the famous Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qinshihuang, the city wall of Xi'an built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Xi'an is the second lag of the delegation's China trip after Beijing, where Chinese President Hu Jintao met with them. 170 members of the delegation, including more than 10 Japanese Dietmen visited Xi'an.

Headed by Japan's largest opposition party leader Ozawa Ichiro, the 450-strong delegation comprises 47 Japanese Dietmen of the DPJ, and representatives from various social circles of Japanese society.

Initiated in 1989, the "Great Wall" Program, a people-to-people exchange scheme, has been participated by more than 200 Japanese Dietmen and 1,500 Japanese people through visits to China.