CHINESE President Hu Jintao's just-concluded "warm spring" visit to Japan has opened up new prospects for the development of strategic and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Saturday.

During his state visit, the first by a Chinese president to Japan in a decade, President Hu held fruitful talks with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Yang told Chinese journalists accompanying Hu on the tour.

During the visit, Hu and Japan Prime Minister Fukuda issued a six-point joint statement on all-round promotion of strategic and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries. The statement has become the fourth important document between the two countries, following the China-Japan Joint Statement issued on Sept. 29, 1972, the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed on Aug. 12, 1978, and the China-Japan Joint Declaration released on Nov. 26, 1998.

During his stay in Japan from May 6-10, Hu met with Japan's Emperor Akihito, leaders of both houses of parliament and political parties of Japan, as well as old Japanese friends of China, and had extensive contacts with business leaders, representatives of friendly organizations, young people and people from other walks of life.

The five-day visit, made using a pragmatic approach, achieved great successes and produced the desired results, Yang said.

The Japanese Government attached great importance to President Hu's visit, Yang said. Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Fukuda and House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono attended many events on Hu's itinerary, and the Chinese president's visit was greeted with great enthusiasm by the Japanese public, he said.

The Chinese president began his state visit in Tokyo on Tuesday.

(Xinhua)