Chinese leaders hold "heart-to-heart" talks with Japanese prime minister

Source: Xinhua | 12-29-2007 08:22

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held "heart-to-heart" talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday, and both stressed joint efforts to promote bilateral relations, saying "a spring has come" for China-Japan ties.

Later in the afternoon, Chinese President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo met with Fukuda, respectively, after he spoke at the elite Peking University.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda (2nd L) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 28, 2007. Yasuo Fukuda arrived here on Dec. 27 for a four-day official visit to China. (Xinhua Photo)

Friday's talks took place in the Great Hall of the People after a red-carpet welcoming ceremony. Wen said a morning snowfall indicated both "an auspicious and abundant year" and a new start of the China-Japan relations.

Fukuda described their talks as "a heart-to-heart dialogue" and said he was determined to treat bilateral relations earnestly "in the new year to come".

Wen said Sino-Japanese relations had entered "an important period of improvement and development", adding that he would like to work with Fukuda to jointly seize opportunities so as to "promote a new and greater development of strategic and mutually beneficial China-Japan relations".

The premier and Fukuda had a "friendly telephone call" only four days after Fukuda assumed his premiership. They also met over lunch during an Asian summit in Singapore last month. "As it shows, we have established a sound work relationship," the premier said.

Fukuda said that China-Japan relations offered "huge opportunities and responsibilities". Fukuda added he hoped the two countries could cooperate for the future of Asia and the world.