Premier Li Keqiang held a talk with the visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Beijing on Oct 26.
Premier Li said China and Japan are important neighbors, so developing a long-term healthy and stable relationship is in accordance with the benefits of the two countries and its people, and also has huge significance to the region and the international community. China attaches great importance to bilateral relations and President Xi Jinping will also meet with the prime minister soon, he said.
On the basis of four political documents between the two countries, including China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship and Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, China is glad to join hands with Japan to promote the new development on back-on-track bilateral relations and will try to achieve further development, said the Premier.
He said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed positive views many times toward Sino-Japan relations, so he hopes the two countries could cherish and secure the positive trend in bilateral ties, strengthen sound interactions, manage historical issues, Taiwan question and East China Sea issue to promote the continuous improvement of bilateral relations.
China is also willing to carry out dialogues with Japan in political and economic fields, strengthen policy connection and coordination, deepen cooperation in tech innovation, energy saving and green development, medical field and senior care, finance, disaster prevention and agriculture, making the third-party market a new pillar for the pragmatic cooperation of the two countries, said the Premier.
He called for boosting the establishment of related projects as soon as possible through well-organized dialogues on innovation. Premier Li also urged the two sides to open the direct liaison hotline under the China-Japan maritime and air liaison mechanism, increase the communication between maritime law-enforcement institutions, making East China Sea a place of peace, cooperation and friendliness.
Efforts should also be made to promote the cooperation on judicial law-enforcement, exchanges on teenagers, sports and local fields, and effective measures to facilitate the exchanges of people in the two countries, he added.
Under the current international background, China and Japan, as major economies of the world, should jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade and promote the establishment of an open world economy, said the Premier.
Efforts should be made to accelerate negotiations on China-Japan-ROK free trade zone and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to facilitate regional trade and investment.
Abe said, Premier Li’s visit to Japan this May has brought bilateral ties back to normal, which should be taken as a chance to start a new era of China-Japan ties, featuring cooperation instead of competition.
China and Japan are important neighbors and strategic partners without threats for each other, he said, adding that China’s development is an important opportunity for Japan.
Japan is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges with China and expand cooperation in the fields, such as economy and trade, investment, finance, innovation, third-party market, teenagers, sports, and regional cooperation on the basis of the four political documents between the two sides, Abe said.
Cooperation between China and Japan is the current trend, and is helpful to solve common concerns facing the whole world said the prime minister.
The two sides should work hard to promote the RCEP negotiation to achieve practical results, enhance the establishment of free and fair international economic order and contribute to free trade and world economic development.
During the meeting, both sides also exchanged ideas on international and regional issues of common concerns.
After the meeting, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements on politics, innovation, finance, customs, and sports.
Before the meeting, Premier Li held a welcome ceremony for Abe at the Great Hall of the People.
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice-Chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Yang Chuantang, and CPPCC Vice-Chairman and Head of the National Development and Reform Commission He Lifeng attended the meeting.
