Premier Li: China-Japan relations at crucial stage of improvement

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said China-Japan relations are at a crucial stage of improvement and development during a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Beijing on Wednesday.

China is willing to work with Japan to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, promote the sustained and healthy development of bilateral relations, and achieve more new results in pragmatic cooperation, Li told Iwaya at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital.

Calling China and Japan "close neighbors that cannot be moved away from each other," Li said the two countries have made a solemn commitment to being cooperative partners rather than threats to each other.

"It is hoped that Japan will work with China, abide by the principles laid down in the four China-Japan political documents, face history squarely and look to the future, constructively manage differences and disputes, and take care of the big picture of China-Japan relations," Li said.

He called on the two sides to expand economic and trade relations, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and further strengthen people-to-people exchanges.

Iwaya said that Japan is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen exchanges at all levels, especially people-to-people exchanges, promote mutually beneficial cooperation and improve public opinion toward each other, comprehensively advance strategic relations of mutual benefit, and build constructive and stable Japan-China relations.

(With input from Xinhua)