SINO-JAPANESE relations are facing new opportunities for further development, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in Tokyo yesterday.

In a written statement issued at the airport upon his arrival in Tokyo, Hu said China and Japan were important countries in Asia and the world, and “the development of a long-term stable and good neighborly friendship between China and Japan was in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.”

Hu arrived in Tokyo yesterday, starting a five-day “warm spring” visit to Japan aimed at boosting strategic and mutually beneficial relations between the two Asian nations.

In the statement, Hu said this year marked the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

The president expressed the hope that his visit would help enhance mutual trust, strengthen friendship, deepen cooperation and create programs for the future. China would work together with Japan to open up new prospects to comprehensively push forward China-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations.

Hu said he would meet with Japanese Emperor Akihito, have an in-depth exchange of views with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern. He would also have extensive contact with Japanese people from different walks of life.

He expressed the belief that through joint efforts of both sides, his visit would achieve expected results.

Hu was greeted at the airport by Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai.

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Hu’s visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese president in a decade, is seen as a step aimed at further improving the once-chilly Sino-Japanese relationship, which began to thaw with the “ice-breaking” visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to China in October 2006.

That event was followed by the “ice-thawing” Japan trip by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April last year and Fukuda’s “spring-herald” visit to China last December.

In an interview with Japanese journalists Sunday, the Chinese president said his state visit to Japan would have the atmosphere of a “warm spring” and he wished for a “warm spring for the friendship between the two peoples.”

Sino-Japanese relations are improving further. The leaders of the two countries have maintained frequent contact, and cooperation in politics, trade, culture and defense has been fruitful.

The economies of the two countries are deeply intertwined. China was Japan’s top trading partner last year while Japan was China’s third-largest with two-way trade amounting to US$236 billion. Japan’s accumulative foreign direct investment in China has reached US$60.7 billion, making Japan China’s second-largest source of foreign investment.

“The improvement and development of the Sino-Japanese relationship is in the fundamental interests of both peoples and also conducive to peace, stability and development in Asia. We are ready to make joint efforts with Japan to further the relationship,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a press conference on April 29.

(Xinhua)