Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said in Beijing Thursday that he expects his country's relations with Japan to develop in a healthy and smooth way in the new century under principles already enshrined in communiqués issued by the two countries.
Zhu made the remarks during his meeting with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and other delegates from China and Japan to a forum for the promotion of Sino-Japanese cooperation at government, business and educational levels.
The forum should be conducive to bilateral mutual understanding of the two peoples, the Chinese premier said.
Noting the noticeable progress scored in bilateral friendly and cooperative relations since the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations three decades ago, Chinese and Japanese delegates held that the two countries should explore new ways and new fields of cooperation in the new century based on experiences and lessons drawn from the past 30 years, for the peace and development of Asia and the world at large.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2002)
