Chen Haosu, chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship With Foreign Countries

Distinguished friends, I'm here on behalf of the non-governmental diplomatic circles to express my honour in attending the Beijing-Tokyo Forum of 2005.

Thank you for the far-sighted collaboration between China Daily, the School of International Studies of Peking University and the Genron NPO of Japan, which makes it possible to launch a 10-year close research on Sino-Japanese relations in the new millennium.

The research aims to construct a solid social foundation for the improvement of the Sino-Japanese friendship in the coming decades.

We believe this will be a great project, benefiting both the Chinese and the Japanese people, as well as favouring human development in general.

We hope people from all walks of life in the two countries contribute comments to and support the project.

Let us give a blessing for a rosy prospect as we take this step forward.

People should view the last century's history of Sino-Japanese relations with wisdom.

In the past 111 years, wars between the two nations had lasted for 51 years before peace finally came about 60 years ago.

However, frequent disputes and hardships have punctuated the past 60 years of the Sino-Japanese relationship, with hopes up and down constantly.

Now we're standing at a turning point, with a chance to make strides and have a long-lasting relationship between the two sides based on our mutual trust and efforts.

We are expecting a bright future lasting for 50 or 100 years or more.

In dealing with the Sino-Japanese relationship, China has adopted the principle that we should treat history impartially and look to the future.

I have heard that some people in Japan rebuke the way China teaches history regarding the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

In fact, China was the largest victim of World War II, losing 35 million people. In populous East and Central China, almost every family has to confront the painful memory of losing loved ones in the war at that time.

The Chinese public have been stirred by righteous indignation upon hearing people in Japan distort and propagandize history with phrases such as "did not invade China at all" and "unleashed the war for the liberation of the Asian people."

We Chinese cherish the merit of forgiving people's faults. However, things would only get worse if these faults could not be corrected and if much bigger faults were created.

In China, when we talk about history, we divide the militarists from the general public in Japan.

We believe the Japanese people also were victims of the war.

We want to sing high praises to the Japanese people who have contributed much to improve and build the Sino-Japanese friendship in the past decades.

They have put forth the slogan, "No more Sino-Japanese wars." They have sacrificed too much, even lives, to secure a better relationship between the two countries.

We hope to have face-to-face talks with our counterparts in Japan, frankly and honestly, in a bid to reach a consensus.

Let us respect each other, respect our individual and our common interests, and respect both history and the future.

Zhao Qizheng, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

The coldness of Sino-Japanese political relations lowers bilateral economic ties to a corresponding level, throwing to the wind many major projects in China.

I believe Sino-Japanese relations will make an improvement in a period of 10 years or less.

My judgement is based on four reasons.

First, history shows that friendly relations between the two neighbours lasted for more than 2,000 years, compared with 51 years of bad ties during 1894-1945.

However, the overall bilateral relationship in the 60 years after World War II was amicable. A similar cultural background provides a sound basis for political understanding and economic exchanges.

Second, the economic development of China and Japan is complementary. The trade volume between Japan and China, including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, surpassed US$160 billion in 2004.

The bilateral trade volume this year is expected to overpass US$190 billion.

Third, apart from the economic relationship, another common pursuit that was neglected in the past lies in the demand for peace and security.

I fully believe that Japanese people love peace very much. So do Chinese people, because they have suffered lasting torment from war and oppression during the past century.

Especially in the current situation as terrorism runs rampantly around the world, both sides share in the task of fighting against terrorism.

The fourth advantage lies in the increasing civic exchanges between the two countries, which will help ease conflicts and solve misunderstandings between the governments.

Many Chinese diplomats who had worked in Japan participated in a series of gatherings around the nation, speaking on their observations towards Sino-Japanese relations after the anti-Japanese parades in February and March.

I believes that an obvious improvement in bilateral relations will be celebrated when another forum is held either in Beijing or Tokyo in 10 years' time.

Takashi Anzai, president of Japan's IY Bank Co Ltd

We are really honoured to have distinguished guests attending the forum. Sixty years after World War II, people of insight from China and Japan have gathered here to discover how to strengthen the China-Japan relationship. This forum is historically significant because it offers a platform for people from the two countries that wish to create a new future for Asia.

Despite different social systems formed during the long Cold War after World War II, nothing can change the fact that our two countries are neighbours. For the sake of the development of the two countries, we cannot leave problems that have emerged in recent years unresolved. We should treat each other with frankness to overcome obstacles.

Every country should realize stability and development by means of opening up its economy to the world and circulating commodities, capital and personnel. To develop in a fair and competitive environment, every country must ensure peaceful relationships. Peace stimulates economic exchanges.

Adam Smith said 200 years ago that a larger scale economy brought about a higher scale of market, leading to rising efficiency. This is the real stimulus for the globalization of the world economy. It would be more fruitful for the two countries to form a huge economic circle so as to enjoy the high efficiency of the division of labour.

People often say if your neighbouring country develops quite well, you will be jealous. However, if your neighbour remains unchanged, how can you expect any benefits from it? So this forum centres on how to further expand the division of labour - what we should do as a result of our discussions.

China faces the problem of separating public finance and banking under the system of national commercial banks. So far, China's economy has depended on direct investment from overseas and exports. China has shown no sign of making domestic capital a base for the economic development of the country. This is a problem China must solve.

Shinji Fukukawa, executive adviser of Dentsu Inc

The forum aims to encourage communication and eliminate differences between the two peoples, explore methods for the development of bilateral ties and establish a new platform for the discussion of Asian progress.

With their international status rising, Japan and China, through bilateral co-operation and exchanges, will make significant contributions to globalization, Asian development, and mutually beneficial developmental prospects for the two neighbours.

To realize these dreams the two countries must come up with fresh ideas for developing and consolidating the bilateral co-operative framework.

Over the past few years, some activities that damaged mutual trust and friendly co-operation in Sino-Japanese relations occasionally occurred, seriously compromising the attitudes of the two peoples.

We have also expressed deep concerns over the Yasukuni Shrine pilgrimage affair, a serious matter behind frictions in bilateral political ties.

The two countries should make efforts to develop a friendly and co-operative relationship oriented towards the 21st century, just as Chinese President Hu Jintao said. What we should do now is try to build and consolidate mutual trust.

If controversies occur between our two countries, we should try to handle and resolve them through dialogue in the spirit of mutual understanding and compromise.

The two neighbours should also try to strengthen educational exchanges between their teenagers on a regular basis, such as on matters of history.

Sino-Japanese relations have already become one of the most important bilateral ties in the world. We sincerely expect mutual trust between us that will carry forward into the next generation.

Akira Kojima, chairman of the Japan Centre for Economic Research and editorial adviser for Nihon Keizai Shimbun

Current China-Japan relations affect not only the two countries but also the whole of Asia.

Economic value generated by China-Japan ties accounts for 70 per cent of Asia's total.

Without the improvement of the relationship between the two countries, regional stability will be put in doubt, which is of no benefit to the global environment.

China and Japan should clarify responsibilities before taking any steps.

Both of us would lose many development opportunities in the new century if the relationship remained tense.

Japan was among the first nations to establish friendly ties with China after the Cold War. In 1992 and 1995, Japan made official apologies to China for the pain it had brought to the world's most populous country.

In recent years, China has criticized Junichiro Koizumi's frequent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which have also been condemned by the Japanese public.

The prime minister did not repeat the visit this year, but on August 15 delivered a speech admitting the hardship Japan brought to Asia, and he emphasized China's unfair treatment.

China, Japan and other countries in Asia should conduct co-operation in energy and environmental fields.

Takashi Shiraishi, vice-president of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies of Japan

Like China, Japan has experienced enormous changes in politics, economy and culture over the past two decades.

And its foreign policies have changed as well.

During the period, the country has built and consolidated its alliance with the United States, and has also pushed for the establishment of the Asian community and East Asian economic co-operation.

This has become an important pillar of Japan's diplomacy.

In recent years, Japan has achieved great progress in co-operation with China, the Republic of Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The increasingly close economic ties among East Asian nations have been closely related to the growing economic clout of China and Japan.

In Japan, we have been brewing an idea to boost Asian development through Sino-Japanese co-operation. In the process, we will try to pursue stable ties with more countries.

It is a great pity that there exists a deep mutual mistrust between Chinese and Japanese. The Yasukuni Shrine issue is one of the main reasons.

The issues of the history textbook, resources exploitation as well as Japan's pursuit of a permanent UN Security Council membership have all contributed a lot to the current situation.

Such a deep sense of mistrust is bad for bilateral relations, and we should make efforts to convert this mistrust into trust between the two peoples.

A key to this target is that the Japanese people should try to adjust to a China with rising clout and realize mutual respect with its neighbour in developing an equal bilateral relationship.

(China Daily 08/24/2005 page5)