China and Japan have the opportunity to further develop their relationship through cooperation in a wide range of areas, an advisory panel on China-Japan relations said Tuesday.

"Bilateral ties have an opportunity to develop as the two governments attach great importance to bilateral ties and are committed to long-term, stable, friendly, and cooperative relations," the fifth 21st Century Committee for China-Japan Friendship said after their first meeting.

The committee, an advisory panel to both nations' governments, convened a three-day meeting in China beginning Sunday to discuss various aspects of China-Japan relations and to provide suggestions to the two governments.

"Members have discussed bilateral cooperation from a strategic point of view and have reached a fruitful outcome," the Chinese chair of the panel, Tang Jiaxuan, said.

The committee agreed China and Japan should aim for cooperation in the post-financial crisis world and step up partnership in environmental protection and low-carbon business. Chinese members proposed building a recycling economic zone in Caofeidian, in north China's Hebei province. Telecommunications, bio-medicine, new materials and clean-fuel vehicles are also fields in which the two sides can work together.

Another field for cooperation is culture, the panel said, stressing the importance of exchanges between media professionals and intellectuals in the two countries.

Chinese members hoped visa procedures to enter Japan will be further simplified, young writers will have more opportunity for exchange, and that an arts festival on Buddhism is established.

The committee suggested cooperation in Asian integration, including the building of a financial security network and speeding up research on the setting up of a free trade zone covering China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

"Japan is willing to work with China to strengthen mutual cooperation in various fields and improve understanding between peoples of the two countries," said chair of the Japanese side, Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) president Taizo Nishimuro.