Chinese top advisor Jia Qinglin met with a Japanese delegation in Beijing on Wednesday, encouraging Chinese and Japanese non-governmental groups to enhance communication in a bid to improve the troubled relations between the two countries.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the appeal while meeting the Japan-China Friendship Association delegation headed by its chairman Ikuo Hirayama.

The friendly exchange and cooperation between China and Japan witnessed sound progress since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations 33 years ago, Jia said, noting it is worthy to be cherished and preserved by the two sides.

However, Sino-Japanese relations have encountered severe problems in recent years, he said.

"The main point is that the Japanese leaders violated their commitments to reviewing the history and continuously visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where some top Japanese World War II criminals are honored," Jia said, noting it hurts the feelings and dignity of the Chinese people.

Jia said that China attaches importance to relations with Japan and is willing to develop long-term, steady and good-neighborly cooperative ties with Japan in the spirit of "learning from history and facing the future" and on the basis of diplomatic documents signed by the two countries.

Ikuo Hirayama said that some Japanese people are also worried about the worsening Japan-China relations.

The Japan-China Friendship Association will try to overcome the difficulties and promote exchanges and cooperation between Japan and China in politics, economics and culture in a bid to improve bilateral relations, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)