Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao concluded his three-day official visit to Japan on Tuesday and left for Mongolia to continue his four-nation Asian tour.

Before his departure, Wen was interviewed by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and met with Japanese Emperor Akihito on Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, the first day of his Japan visit, Wen met with representatives of China-Japan friendship organizations and Chinese societies based in Japan, and called on both the Chinese and Japanese sides to deepen the friendship and play down problems and misunderstanding between the two countries and peoples.

"I am confident the China-Japan friendship is rooted among the two peoples and we must inherit and push forward the friendship," Wen said.

On Monday, Wen held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Wen and Hatoyama agreed to re-establish a hot line between the premiers of the two countries, and agreed to launch negotiations on implementing principled consensus on the East China Sea issue, speed up the establishment of a maritime communication mechanism between defense departments of the two countries, and negotiate and sign an agreement on maritime rescue at an early date.

"China sees Japan as a strategic partner, not a competitor or a rival. The two neighbors should view each other as partners so as to have peaceful coexistence and long-lasting friendship," Wen told Hatoyama.

On economic affairs, Wen said the foundation of economic cooperation between China and Japan is solid. The two countries should make the best of the high-level economic dialogue and other mechanisms to enhance macroeconomic coordination, and launch a number of major cooperation projects in green economy, energy and environment, and circular economy.

Wen and Hatoyama also discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Addressing a welcome luncheon given in his honor by the influential Japanese Business Federation, Wen called on Japanese entrepreneurs to make further contributions to cooperation between the two countries.

Responding to questions from Japanese entrepreneurs, the Chinese premier expressed his hope that the two countries would always keep in mind the long-term development of the bilateral ties, continue to draw on each other's strength, broaden cooperation in energy conservation, environmental protection, circular economy so as to achieve a win-win result.

Wen also joined a group of well-known figures in Chinese and Japanese cultural circles to discuss ways to further boost cultural exchanges between the two countries.

He said culture serves as a bridge to link the hearts of different peoples and different countries. China and Japan share a history of friendly exchanges of 2,000 years, and have formed inseparable cultural ties, which constitute unique wealth in their bilateral relations.

"One of the objectives of my Japan trip is to boost cultural exchanges between the two countries and enhance friendship between the two peoples," Wen said.

He noted that China welcomes more and better Japanese cultural products in the Chinese market, and wishes to introduce to Japan more Chinese cultural products of outstanding quality.

Japan was the second leg of Wen's ongoing trip, which has already taken him to South Korea and also includes Myanmar.