The 7th meeting of the new 21st Century Committee for
China-Japan Friendship opened?in Beijing?Sunday, with
policy consultants from both sides trying to seek concrete
proposals for further improving bilateral ties.
Zheng Bijian, chief Chinese member of the 21st Century Committee
for China-Japan Friendship, and his Japanese counterpart Yotaro
Kobayashi lead members of the two sides to attend the meeting.
"The China-Japan relations are now stepping on a new horizon and
face historical opportunities of development," Zheng said, adding
that to seize the opportunity and create a better future were the
common wish of Chinese and Japanese people and the subject of this
meeting.
Kobayashi said the current improvement of bilateral relations
had made people feel the warmth of spring and he believed the
Japan-China relations will head further.
The two-day meeting will also focus on how to implement the
consensus reached during Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's
China visit last month and on the Chinese President Hu Jintao's
upcoming trip to Japan, Chinese secretary of the Committee Jiang
Xiaosong said.
The new 21st Century Committee for China-Japan Friendship is a
policy consultation organization for the two governments. Its goal
is to bring together intellectuals from both sides to study
relations from a broad political, economic, cultural, scientific
and technological perspective, and make proposals to both
governments.
The committee has held six meetings since its inception in July
2003, based on the consensus of the leaders of the two
countries.
(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2008)
