Japanese PM looks forward to more exchanges with China

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Makoto Nishida, secretary-general of the Komeito Party, at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday. Ishiba expressed his hope of "continuing exchanges between Japan and China at various levels" and reiterated his desire for an early visit to China, The Nikkei reported.

At the invitation of the Communist Party of China, Moriyama and Nishida will lead a delegation from Japan's ruling coalition to visit China from Monday to Wednesday. The two sides will jointly hold the 9th meeting of the China-Japan Ruling Party Exchange Mechanism, marking the first such gathering in seven years.

Last year, Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, led a CPC delegation on a visit to Japan.

"Party exchange is an important component of China-Japan relations. China values the dialogue with Japanese political parties, both ruling and opposition, as well as individuals from all walks of life, as part of the effort to jointly bring China-Japan relations forward," said China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun at a regular news conference on Thursday.

The top leaders of China and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to comprehensively advance a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests. They have also expressed their intention to foster a constructive and stable bilateral relationship, said Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Tuesday at his first news conference this year.

In line with this policy, plans are underway to facilitate high-level communications and opportunities for mutual travel this year. As part of these efforts, Japan aims to materialize a visit from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the earliest appropriate time within the year. During this visit, a high-level economic dialogue is planned, and Japan seeks to begin coordinating further details with China, Iwaya said.

China remains as Japan's largest trading partner, with over 13,000 Japanese companies operating in the country. Iwaya emphasized that supporting the activities of Japanese private enterprises remains a key priority, and Japan seeks to advance its relationship with China in a constructive manner.

In addition, he said people-to-people exchanges are fundamental to the relationship between the two nations. Japan aims to revitalize these interactions to deepen mutual understanding.

"When I made a visit to China at the end of last year, we conducted the Japan-China high-level people-to-people and cultural exchange dialogue. We would like to further promote mutual understanding between the two nations. Both countries are willing to make efforts to that end," Iwaya said.