Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan on Sunday met former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and Chairman of the General Council of the Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai.

Tang said the Chinese government has attached great importance to developing relationship with Japan that features long-term stability, good neighborhood, friendship and cooperation, adding that China will stick to the principle of "peaceful coexistence, friendship from generation to generation, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development" proposed by the Chinese President Hu Jintao and make joint efforts together with Japan to comprehensively promote the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Tang said at the time of the 35th anniversary of the normalization of the China-Japan diplomatic relations, he hoped the two countries could keep high-level contact and mutual visits, continuously expand mutually beneficially cooperation in all fields, greatly promote non-governmental exchanges, enhance the friendship between the two peoples, and push forward the sound and stable development of bilateral relations.

Kaifu and Nikai said Japan is happy to see the current improvement in and development momentum of Japan-China relations and hopes to take the anniversary as the opportunity for comprehensively promoting the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. They would organize the activities through which nearly 20,000 Japanese would come to visit China this year.

Kaifu and Nikai came to China at the invitation of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Shao Qiwei, director of CNTA and Cui Tiankai, Chinese assistant foreign minister also attended the meeting.
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(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2007)