Ｊｉａｎｇｓｕ－Ｊａｐａｎ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ－ｔｏ－Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｌｙ Ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅ Ｗｅｅｋ Ｈｅｌｄ

Jiangsu-Japan People-to-People Friendly Exchange Week was held in Jiangsu Province from May 22 to 28. It was sponsored by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (JPPAFFC) with the aim of mobilizing the people to actively work for maintaining friendship and cooperation between China and Japan and push the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

On the afternoon of May 22， the opening ceremony of the Jiangsu-Japan People-to-People Friendly Exchange Week was held at the Jiangsu Sino-Japanese Friendship Centre in Nanjing. Liang Baohua， governor of Jiangsu， and Wang Xiaoxian， vice president of the China-Japan Friendship Association， spoke at the opening ceremony. Present were Feng Mingang， deputy secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China， Bai Suning， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress， and Wu Donghua， vice chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference. Wu Xijun， president of the JPPAFFC， presided over the ceremony.

Takeshi Noda， member of the Japanese House of Representatives and president of the Japan-China Society， Ryu Matsumoto， member of the Japanese House of Representatives， Hiromasa Ikeda， deputy general director of Soka Gakkai， Takeshi Sugimoto， deputy governor of Ishikawa Prefecture， and Atsushi Goto， president of the Aichi Prefectural Japan-China Friendship Association， also made speeches. Yuji Kumamaru， Japanese consul general to Shanghai， and more than 240 friendly personages from 20-odd friendship organizations in 9 Japanese metropolises and prefectures attended the opening ceremony.

In his speech， Governor Liang Baohua， on behalf of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government， expressed warm congratulations on the opening of the Jiangsu-Japan People-to-People Friendly Exchange Week and extended sincere welcome to the Japanese friends who had come to take part in the activities of the friendly exchange week. Liang Baohua pointed out， to enhance exchanges between localities and nongovernmental friendly contacts are important ways to advance Sino-Japanese relations. Jiangsu has very close contact with Japan. It has witnessed growing economic and trade cooperation and personnel exchanges with Japan. The exchanges between the province and relevant Japanese local governments and nongovernmental organizations are also very active. The two sides have established 31 pairs of friendship cities. Last year， the trade volume between Jiangsu and Japan reached $35.5 billion， the enterprises with Japanese investments in the province reached more than 5，700， and personnel exchanges 650，000 person times. It is our belief that the present Friendly Exchange Week would expand exchanges and cooperation to more fields and enhance the understanding and friendship between the people of China and Japan.

Liang Baohua said， in today’s world， peace， development and cooperation have become the trend of our times. “Keeping one’s word and building good-neighbourly relations” and “living in harmony with all nations” are historical traditions of the Chinese nation. Peaceful coexistence and lasting friendship are the common aspiration of the Chinese and Japanese peoples. At present， Sino-Japanese relations are beset with difficulties. The cause is that some Japanese leaders insist on paying homage to the Yasukuni Shrine where class A criminals of WWII are honoured. To maintain China-Japan friendship， we must have a correct understanding and attitude towards history， draw lessons from it and look to the future. People-to-people friendship is a traditional advantage of Sino-Japanese friendship. We are willing to work with various Japanese friendship organizations and friendly personages to carry out exchanges in all fields with rich contents in various forms so as to sow the seeds of friendship extensively， enhance understanding and friendship between the two peoples， especially the youth and consolidate the social basis of Sino-Japanese friendship; and to further exchanges in the economic， trade， scientific， technological， cultural， educational and other fields to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and common development， and make new contributions to the development of long-term and stable good-neighbourly China-Japan relations of cooperation.

Wang Xiaoxian said in her speech， at today’s opening ceremony which is filled with an atmosphere of Sino-Japanese friendship， as a person who has gone through the whole period of rebuilding and developing Sino-Japanese relations after the war， I feel very happy to see marked progress and good results achieved in various fields since the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. In the meantime， we must also note that relations between our two countries have not developed smoothly. The current bilateral relations are faced with the most difficult situation since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations. The fact that the friendly feelings between our two peoples are on the wane is worrisome. But， just as President Hu Jintao pointed out when he met with the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations at the end of March， the Chinese Government attaches great importance to China-Japan relations and is ready to actively promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas on the basis of the principles laid down in the three political documents including the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and in the spirit of “taking history as a mirror and looking to the future”. Jiangsu Province is one of China’s most active provinces in carrying out exchanges with foreign countries. Its contact with Japan is unique and fruitful. The number of friendship cities established with Japan tops the list of all provinces in China. I believe that the present Jiangsu-Japan People-to-People Friendly Exchange Week would achieve rich results and make fresh contributions to promoting the development of Sino-Japanese friendly and cooperative relations and enhancing the friendly sentiments between the two peoples.

In his speech， Takeshi Noda said， I am very happy to be invited to take part in the Jiangsu-Japan People-to-People Friendly Exchange Week. The holding of this Friendly Exchange Week by Jiangsu Province at a time when Sino-Japanese relations have encountered difficulties is a very good form of “promoting official ties through nongovernmental contacts”. The older generation of our two countries overcame many difficulties and realized the normalization of diplomatic relations through arduous efforts. Today， we must work with added efforts and actively carry out various high-quality exchanges to push Japan-China relations out of difficulties and to achieve continuous development. Jiangsu is one of the motive forces of China’s economic development. I hope that it would also play the role of a motive force in advancing Sino-Japanese relations.

Ryu Matsumoto said， we have come here to participate in the friendly exchange week today with promoting Japan-China friendship in mind. My grandfather Jiichiro Matsumoto and other Japanese personages founded the Japan-China Friendship Association. When he visited China in 1953 he came via a third country because Japan and China had not restored diplomatic relations. As his grandson， I feel honoured to make a speech here 53 years later. We have been drinking water from the wells dug by our forefathers， but， today there is not much water left. I hope to dig wells of friendship in Jiangsu again. Those who do not see the past have no future. Only by drawing lessons from history and working hard to create a new future can there be broader prospects. Sino-Japanese friendship is not a matter concerning only China and Japan， but also contributes greatly to peace in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. I wish that the Chinese and Japanese peoples will live in friendship generation after generation.

Hiromasa Ikeda read out the message of congratulations on the holding of the friendly exchange week from Daisaku Ikeda， honorary president of Soka Gakkai.

During the Friendly Exchange Week， rich and colourful activities were held such as celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Jiangsu Sino-Japanese Friendship Centre， Japan’s Ishikawa Day， and Jiangsu’s Xuzhou Day， Nantong Day， Suzhou Day and Yangzhou Day， etc.. These activities involved all fields including culture， art， sports， tourism， science and technology. About 1，000 people from various localities of Japan joined the friendly exchanges in different parts of Jiangsu. At the present difficult time in Sino-Japanese relations since the normalization， such large-scale， wide-range nongovernmental exchanges will play a positive role in promoting mutual understanding and trust and enhancing friendship between the two peoples.