A senior Chinese legislator said in Beijing on Thursday China hopes for long-term friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with Japan.

"It has been our sincere hope to always maintain friendly ties and cooperation with Japan," Li Tieying, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), told Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in a meeting.

"It is not a temporary policy but a strategy which concerns the basic interests of our two nations," said Li, calling for continuous efforts from both countries to aid the sound development of bilateral ties.

Ozawa, who heads a 450-member Japanese delegation, said it not only accords with the interests of Japan and China to build mutually beneficial relations, but also exerts major influence on the region and the world at large.

He said he and his delegation will do more to enhance the party and people-to-people exchanges between Japan and China.

The delegation of DPJ and the 15th "Great Wall" programme, invited by the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the All China Youth Delegation, comprises 47 Japanese DPJ Dietmen and representatives from various circles of Japanese society.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata is also with the delegation.

During their stay in Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet with the delegation. DPJ Dietmen will also attend a meeting of a regular exchange mechanism between DPJ and CPC.

Initiated in 1989, the "Great Wall" Program, a people-to-people exchange scheme, has been participated by more than 200 Japanese Dietmen and 2,000 Japanese people from various social circles through visits to China.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2007)