Chinese and Japanese academics came together for the third time in a series of meetings aimed at bridging differences over interpretations of history, amid a warming of relations between the two countries.

The two-day panel over the weekend, which concluded yesterday, saw more than 30 scholars from the China-Japan Joint History Research Committee and other academic circles meeting in the capital.

Both Chinese and Japanese scholars agreed that historians' responsibilities include conducting in-depth research that take into account the historical background of Asia and the world at large.

The discussion was held a week after Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's five-day visit to China, during which he said "spring" had come in the warming of bilateral relations.

Bilateral ties have warmed in the past year, following a long chill during the 2001-06 terms of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who paid repeated visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine where war criminals of World War II are honored.

With this year marking the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty between the two countries, experts from both sides realized that hopes are high for the outcome of the joint research by Chinese and Japanese scholars.

The third plenary session focused on the discussion of theses of history - several subcommittees are scheduled to study the works so that a joint report can be submitted to the two governments by the year-end, as agreed earlier.

Headed by Chinese historian Bu Ping and the University of Tokyo professor Shinichi Kitaoka, the joint study was first held in Beijing in December 2006.

The second plenary session was held last March in Tokyo, where both sides decided the research topic and completed the writing of papers.

(China Daily January 7, 2008)