China, Japan vow to advance relations along right track

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and President of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade Yohei Kono here on Monday, saying the two side should work together to ensure bilateral relations move forward along the right track.

At his meeting with Suga, Wang said the improvement and development of China-Japan relations are of great significance to both countries as well as the region and the world at large. The top leaders of the two countries had a successful meeting in Osaka in June and reached important consensus on building bilateral relations that meet the requirements of the new era. Both sides need to take concrete actions to realize the consensus.

He called on the Japanese side to meet China halfway, creating a harmonious and sound environment for the two countries' major political and diplomatic agendas in the next stage, he added.

Japan is willing to work with China to make careful preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit next spring, so as to make it an important opportunity to build bilateral relations in the new era, sending a positive signal to the international community that the two neighbors cooperate to address international and regional challenges, said Suga.

When meeting with Kono, who is also the former speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, Wang said China-Japan relations have shown a momentum of improvement and development with the efforts of both sides. Going forward, the bilateral relationship will embrace important development opportunities as well as noise and interference, Wang said.

He urged both sides to make joint efforts to ensure the development of bilateral ties along the right track, which is not only in the interests of the two countries and peoples, but also of great significance for the two sides to cope together with the current world full of uncertainties and instability.

Kono, for his part, said Japan-China relations have encountered serious difficulties over the past period. Fortunately, people of insight from both sides have been actively committed to improving bilateral relations. He is glad to see that bilateral relations have returned to normal.

According to Kono, the Japanese people are looking forward to President Xi's state visit, which they believe will be of epoch-making significance in improving the feelings between the two peoples.