Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 summit and they agreed to step up negotiations for two regional free trade deals.
Xi said the two sides should work together to complete as early as possible the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the trilateral free trade agreement among China, Japan and South Korea.
President Xi pointed out that China-Japan relations have made new progress as consensuses reached by the two leaders have been gradually implemented.
He believed the development of China-Japan relations has more favorable conditions than before. The potential for pragmatic trade cooperation between China and Japan is huge.
China welcomes Japan to continue to participate in China's reform and opening up process and share new opportunities in China's development, Xi said, adding that both sides should give full play to their complementary advantages and expand the breadth and depth of cooperation.
He also noted that the two sides should carry forward the tradition of non-governmental friendship, enhance personnel exchanges, and reinforce the social and public opinion foundation of China-Japan relations.
The two sides should handle some major sensitive issues properly and ensure that the relations between the two countries are no longer disturbed. China supports the Japanese side to run the G20 summit next year, according to the Chinese president.
Abe, for his part, said Japan is willing to actively promote the negotiation of the RCEP, accelerate the negotiation of a trilateral free trade agreement among China, Japan and S. Korea and he is glad to see that the two sides reached an important consensus on bilateral relations entering a new stage when he visited China in October this year.
Japan will continue to work with China to promote the development of Asia, he said, adding Japan is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges with China, and deepen economy, trade, and investment cooperation.
The Japanese prime minister also noted that Japan wishes to expand third-party market cooperation with China, and promote exchanges among citizens, especially in the youth, which is in line with the expectations of people from the two countries as well as the international community.
Japan attaches great importance to China's role in international society and hopes to strengthen communication and coordination with China in multilateral affairs, he added.
Abe also said the Japanese side stands to safeguard free trade and the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as its core and looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China during Japan's presidency of the G20 summit.