TOKYO — State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Japanese National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi co-chaired the fourth round of high-level political dialogue between the two countries on May 29.

Yang said at the meeting that China-Japan relations are currently at an important juncture with both new opportunities and outstanding challenges as this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations.

The two sides should remind themselves of their original intention for normalizing ties, take history as a mirror while facing to the future, and push for the continuous enhancement of bilateral relations based on the spirit of four important political documents between China and Japan and the four-point principled agreement reached in November 2014, Yang said.

Yang also said that China attaches importance to developing its relationship with Japan and this stance has not changed. He called on the Japanese side to conform to the trend of times and implement, with specific policies and concrete actions, the consensus that the two countries are each other’s cooperative partner rather than threats, and that China’s development is an opportunity for Japan.

Welcoming Japan to discuss cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Yang said the two sides should speed up transformation and upgrade of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and to expand cooperation in new areas.

He also urged the two sides to further enhance communication between local governments and the young people, among others, so as to promote mutual understanding between the two peoples and lay solid foundation for the development of bilateral ties.

For his part, Yachi said that cooperation between China and Japan, two major countries in Asia, is vital to the region and the two sides shall fully implement the consensus that they are each other’s cooperative partner rather than threats.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concerns.