The resignation of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will not affect the promotion of Sino-Japanese relations, a minister with the Japanese government said yesterday.
"I firmly believe the newly elected leaders will lead Japan to further promote our relations with China," Hiroya Masuda, minister of internal affairs and communications, said at a welcoming ceremony at the start of the fourth Tokyo-Beijing Forum.
The meeting, which opens today, will involve dialogue between the two neighbors at the highest level, and comes in the wake of the changes to the Japanese government.
More than 100 political, business and academic leaders from both countries will discuss ways to develop bilateral relations in terms of political dialogue, economic cooperation, media exchanges, food safety, environmental protection and disaster relief.
Several Chinese government ministers, including Wang Chen, head of the State Council Information Office, and former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing are at the forum.
Among the Japanese contingent is Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Sadakazu Tanigaki and Katsuya Okada, vice-president of the opposition Democratic Party.
"I am optimistic about relations between the two countries," Okada said.
"As long as we maintain full-scale and in-depth exchanges, relations will have a solid foundation," he said.
The forum, co-founded by China Daily and Tokyo-based nonprofit group Genron-NPO, serves as a platform for high-level dialogue between the two countries.
Source: China Daily
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