Joint efforts between China and Japan to remove current political obstacles and bring bilateral ties back on the track of sound and stable development as early as possible should be pursued, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Tuesday.

Hu made his comments while meeting with Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition Party.

"To strengthen dialogue and exchanges between parties and statesmen is of significance for increasing political trust and pushing forward Sino-Japanese relations at a time when bilateral ties are facing difficulties," Hu said.

Sino-Japanese relations were soured by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where Japan's war dead, including 14 convicted "class A" war criminals from World War II, are honored.

The leaders of the two countries halted exchange visits following Koizumi's visit to the War shrine soon after he took office in 2001.

In an earlier meeting with Ozawa, Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, called on Japan to join hands with China and take "concrete" action to steer China-Japan relations back onto a normal track of healthy and stable development.

"China attaches great importance to the China-Japan relations," Tang said. He added the healthy and stable development of bilateral ties not only met the fundamental interests of the two nations but also helped promote peace in Asia and the world.

Both President Hu and State Councilor Tang appreciated Ozawa's long-term contribution to cementing China-Japan relations and said he and his party "had contributed a lot" to the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. 

Ozawa said as head of the DPJ he would continue to develop the Japan-China friendship following the efforts of Japanese politicians like former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and do his best to help further develop relations. 

Tanaka, as the first Japanese prime minister to visit China since World War II, signed a joint statement with China for the normalization of bilateral relations in 1972.

Before leaving for China on July 2 Ozawa urged that the names of the 14 "class A" War criminals be removed from the memorial listing at the Yasukuni Shrine. "It is a mistake to put their names alongside those of the War dead," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)