Vice-President Hu Jintao said yesterday in Beijing that China and Japan should make great efforts to foster new generations of people who will carry on the development of Sino-Japanese friendship.

He said the two countries should work unswervingly for a sound and steady development of their good-neighborly relations of cooperation, so as to pass on Sino-Japanese friendship from generation to generation.

Hu made the remarks during a meeting with former Japanese prime ministers Ryutaro Hashimoto and Tomiichi Murayama and former Japanese vice-prime minister Masaharu Gotoda before a grand reception commemorating the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations.

Hu stressed that China and Japan share the responsibility to push forward bilateral relations in the spirit of "drawing lessons from history and looking ahead to the future."

Hu also expressed hope that the statesmen and people from all sectors of society in the two countries would cherish the hard-won results of Sino-Japanese friendship and take advantage of this anniversary to deepen mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and expand cooperation.

Yesterday Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and his Japanese counterpart, Junichiro Koizumi, exchanged congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese ties.

In a message to Koizumi, Zhu said: "On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations, I, on behalf the Chinese Government and people, wish to send warm congratulations to you and through you to the Japanese Government and people."

Zhu also expressed his hope that the two sides will take advantage of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic normalization to push for further development of bilateral relations under the guidance of the Joint Statement of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Japan, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between the People's Republic of China and Japan, and the Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration.

In a message to Zhu, Koizumi said that over the past 30 years, the two countries have enjoyed frequent exchanges in political, economic and cultural areas.

Koizumi concluded that China and Japan shared common responsibility in maintaining regional and even global peace and prosperity.

(China Daily September 30, 2002)