Vice President Zeng Qinghong said Tuesday that promoting interpersonal communication and friendship between China and Japan is crucial to the long-term, healthy and stable development of the countries' relationship in the new situation.  

Zeng, made the remarks during a meeting with Morihiko Hiramatsu, former governor of Japan's Oita-Ken Prefecture.

Hiramatsu is in China to promote the "one brand name for one village" program, a rural economy development project sponsored by Chinese and Japanese local governments and non-governmental organizations.

Zeng said the program is an important trial for promoting common development. He said the Sino-Japanese friendship is based on the friendship between the two peoples. Therefore, the good experience gained in the process of normalization of bilateral relations more than 30 years ago lies in "promoting official links through people-to-people exchanges" and "pushing forward official and people-to-people exchanges simultaneously." The experience is of crucial significance for the long-term, healthy and stable development of relations between China and Japan in the new situation.

Zeng said the current abnormal situation in Sino-Japanese relations goes against the common interests of the people of the two countries. He said the two countries should draw lessons from history and face to the future, abide by the principles of the three major political documents signed by the two countries and take concrete action to implement the propositions that Chinese President Hu Jintao put forward on developing Sino-Japanese relations. He said the two countries should overcome the current difficulties and advance Sino-Japanese relations toward the correct direction.

Hiramatsu briefed Zeng about the progress of the "one brand name for one village" program that Japan carried out in some Asian and African countries.

He expressed the willingness to continuously spread the program in China so as to expand friendly exchanges between Japanese and Chinese local governments and non-government organizations.

Hiramatsu said he will make further substantial contribution to the healthy development of Japan-China relations.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2005)