China hopes it can work with Japan to reinforce defense exchanges, Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said in Beijing on Monday.

Liang made the remarks when meeting Japanese military officers with the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund led by Yohei Sasakawa.

China is glad to see that bilateral defense exchanges have been soundly developed through the governments, while non-government-organized exchanges, like the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund and the China Institute for International Strategic Studies, continue, said Liang.

Sasakawa, also head of the Nippon Foundation said he will continuously play an active role in advancing bilateral friendship and defense exchange. The Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund is a non-governmental organization founded in 1989.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2009)