China highly values President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan in the spring and will remain in close communication with the Japanese side during preparations for the visit, China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi said when meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday.

Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, is on a two-day visit to Japan which started on Friday.

The comment dismissed speculation that Xi's trip would be postponed due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, since there will be no change in plans for the state visit for the time being.

Xi accepted Abe's invitation to visit Japan as a state guest when the two leaders met last June on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The upcoming occasion will make Xi the first Chinese president to pay a state visit to Japan since May 2008.

The state visit, which is expected to include a meeting with Emperor Naruhito and a banquet at the Imperial Palace, has been viewed as a chance to underscore a recent improvement in bilateral relations.

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Apart from discussing the planned state visit, Yang also introduced China's coronavirus prevention and control work to Abe, stressing that China has the confidence and capability to win the battle against the outbreak and achieve the set goals in social and economic sectors through hard work.

The top diplomat hailed the firm support from Japan amid the outbreak, saying that the mutual trust and mutual support have helped deepen the bilateral relations. He assured Abe that China will continue to provide assistance to Japan and enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of medicine.

Noting the sound momentum of China-Japan relations, Yang said that China is ready to implement the important consensuses reached by the two leaders and further advance bilateral ties together with Japan.

He said that China is confident that Japan will hold the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games successfully.

Abe, for his part, echoed Yang's words. He spoke highly of China's prevention work and said that Japan is ready to enhance information exchanges and cooperation on COVID-19.

Before the meeting, Yang held a new round of high-level dialogue with Shigeru Kitamura, the chief of Japan's National Security Secretariat and talked with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

'Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons'

"Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons in the face of the epidemic," Yang said when co-chairing the eighth China-Japan high-level political dialogue with Head of Japan's National Security Council Shigeru Kitamura on Friday. 

The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on preparations for President Xi's upcoming visit to Japan and agreed to take the implementation of important consensus as an opportunity to make use of the China-Japan high-level political dialogue mechanism, enhance political mutual trust, strengthen communication and coordination, further consolidate the improving momentum in bilateral relations and promote China-Japan relations in a new era onto a new level. 

Yang said that under the personal command and deployment of President Xi, the prevention and control of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in China has made initial achievements, while the positive momentum is expanding, and the economic and social development is accelerating the recovery. 

The top diplomat pointed out that in the face of the epidemic, China and Japan have assisted each other in overcoming difficulties together. He said he believes that after the test of the epidemic, the friendship between China and Japan will increasingly become the aspiration and action of the two peoples. 

China is ready to maintain close communication with relevant countries including Japan in addition to the World Health Organization and the international community to share experience in epidemic prevention, coordinate prevention and control measures and better safeguard the health and well-being of all. 

Kitamura spoke highly of China's resolute and powerful measures to combat the epidemic and the remarkable results achieved, saying that China's experience in fighting the epidemic has served as a positive example for Japan. 

He said that Japan is ready to strengthen information sharing, experience sharing and technical cooperation with China in the field of public health security and jointly safeguard international public health security. 

The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in scientific and technological innovation and third-party markets cooperation, and create favorable business environments for each other's companies to invest and operate. 

(With input from Xinhua)