A senior Chinese legislator said in Beijing on Thursday China
hopes for long-term friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation
with Japan.
"It has been our sincere hope to always maintain friendly ties
and cooperation with Japan," Li Tieying, vice chairman of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), told
Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in a
meeting.
"It is not a temporary policy but a strategy which concerns the
basic interests of our two nations," said Li, calling for
continuous efforts from both countries to aid the sound development
of bilateral ties.
Ozawa, who heads a 450-member Japanese delegation, said it not
only accords with the interests of Japan and China to build
mutually beneficial relations, but also exerts major influence on
the region and the world at large.
He said he and his delegation will do more to enhance the party
and people-to-people exchanges between Japan and China.
The delegation of DPJ and the 15th "Great Wall" programme,
invited by the International Department of the Communist Party of
China Central Committee and the All China Youth Delegation,
comprises 47 Japanese DPJ Dietmen and representatives from various
circles of Japanese society.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata is also with the
delegation.
During their stay in Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao will
meet with the delegation. DPJ Dietmen will also attend a meeting of
a regular exchange mechanism between DPJ and CPC.
Initiated in 1989, the "Great Wall" Program, a people-to-people
exchange scheme, has been participated by more than 200 Japanese
Dietmen and 2,000 Japanese people from various social circles
through visits to China.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2007)
