Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday China appreciates the active attitude of the leader of Japan's Democratic Party toward the relationship with China, and China is ready to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation with Japan's new Cabinet.

China expects to work together with Japan to enhance mutual trust, carry forward traditional ties and forge into the future, and push forward the strategic and mutually beneficial relations of the two countries, Wen told a Japanese business delegation in Beijing Wednesday morning.

DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama will take over the leadership of Japan on Sept. 16 from Prime Minister Taro Aso after the DPJ defeated his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the Aug. 30 election, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken LDP rule.

"China expects to work together with Japan to enhance mutual trust, carry forward traditional ties and boost strategic and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries," Wen told Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation and chairman of Canon.

Mitarai is leading a delegation of 140 Japanese business executives and officials on a week-long China visit.

Wen said adherence to China-Japan friendship and mutually-beneficial cooperation were in the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples and worked for stability and development in Asia.

On the economic front, Wen said, "No single country or region alone can recover from the global economic downturn."

As two of the world's major economies, China and Japan were important trade partners and should work together to tackle the downturn, Wen said.

Despite the downturn, China-Japan trade grew 13 percent to 266.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2008.

Wen called for both governments to work together on macro economic policies and to oppose trade protectionism.

He encouraged both countries' business sectors to overcome difficulties, work more effectively and make unremitting efforts to boost economic recovery and sustainable growth.

Mitarai recalled his seven meetings with Wen during the past three years. He congratulated China on the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China on Oct. 1 and hailed China's stimulus package as effective in dealing with the global economic turmoil.

He said Japan-China cooperation was important to recover from the present downturn.

The Japanese business community would like to work closely with its Chinese counterpart on trade, investment, and environmental protection as well as participate readily in regional development programs in northeastern, central and western China, Mitarai said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2009)