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Japan-China ties to be further advanced: DPJ

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-02 20:31

Japan's Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama (C) is surrounded by the media at the party headquarters in Tokyo August 31, 2009. [Agencies]

TOKYO: The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary General Katsuya Okada said Wednesday that the DPJ will continue to advance Japan-China relations after taking the reins of government.

Okada made the remarks at a symposium to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China following the DPJ's landslide victory over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the lower house election on Sunday.

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The symposium, co-hosted by the Information Office of the State Council of China and Nihon Keizai Shimbun with the assistance of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), was aimed at presenting economic, cultural and social changes that have taken place since 1949 and offering an outlook for the development of Japan-China relations.

Okada said "The DPJ has, as always, attached great importance to Japan-China relations and will invariably further promote bilateral relations after assuming power."

Extending his heartfelt congratulations on the anniversary, Okada said that since the founding of the New China, the Chinese people, with their wisdom and hard work, have surmounted a multitude of difficulties and achieved the eye-catching success.

On Japan's ties with China and the United States, Okada said that it is pointless to debate whether to choose China or the United States as the two countries are both of great importance to Japan.

"But Asia is having an increasingly strong presence in the international community, the 21st century will thus be Asia's century," he said, expressing his hope that Japan and China will foster win-win relations under the new circumstances.

Okada said that the two nations need to strengthen economic cooperation and keep closer contacts and communications with each other in a joint effort to exert greater influence in the international community.

Also at the symposium, Chairman of Nippon Keidanren Fujio Mitarai said "Future-oriented bilateral economic relations will benefit not only the two nations but the whole Asia at large," adding that to achieve the goal through joint efforts is the aspiration of the Japanese business community.

"With its constant endeavor over the past 30 years, China has transformed from the world factory into the world market," Mitarai said. "Meanwhile, mutual understanding between the two nation has been boosted through various exchanges and communications."

On regional and global cooperation, Mitarai said that Japan and China are among the largest economies in the world and exert great influence in the international arena.

"East Asia is the bellwether of the world economic growth," he said. "Japan and China need to promote cooperation in a bid to play a constructive role in building the envisioned East Asia economic community."

Li Rongrong, director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said Japanese and Chinese economies are supplementary and companies from the two countries can widen their cooperation in, among others, green and high technologies, and protection of intellectual property rights.

"We should also enhance communication of macro economic policies to fight against trade protectionism, so that we can contribute to the recovery of world economy," Li said.

About 800 people attended the symposium.