Only when Japanese leaders stop hurting Chinese people's feeling can the China-Japan relations be improved, said Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Friday.

Chinese people feel it unacceptable for some Japanese leaders to pay homage to war criminals, who slaughtered numerous people in China and other countries they invaded in the World War II.

However, Li said he believes that the friendship between Chinese and Japanese people can go on from generation to generation in spite of Japanese leaders' stance.

He made the remarks as he was attending the opening ceremony of the Fourth Session of the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body in the country.

Li said the two countries are important trade partner to each other and they now enjoy favorable trade relations.

The two countries are making consultations on the issue of oil prospecting on the East China Sea, and the two sides are preparing for a new round talk, the minister said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2006)