ＣＪＦＡ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｓｏｎｇ Ｊｉａｎ Ｌｅａｄｓ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ １２ｔｈ Ｃｏｎｆｅｒｅｎｃｅ ｏｎ Ｓｉｎｏ－Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｌｙ Ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｓ

At the invitation of the Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA)， Song Jian， president of the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA)， led a delegation to Japan to attend the 12th Conference on Sino-Japanese Friendly Exchanges on May 11. During his visit in Japan， President Song Jian called on Taro Aso， Japanese prime minister， and met local government heads and leaders of friendship organizations including governors and assembly speakers of Kagawa， Kochi and Ehime prefectures， exchanging opinions with them on further strengthening nongovernmental exchanges between China and Japan.

12th Conference on Sino-Japanese Friendly Exchanges

Since 1983， the Conference on Sino-Japanese Friendly Exchanges has been held jointly by the CJFA and the JCFA for 11 sessions. The 12th Conference was held in Takamatsu， Kagawa， from May 13 to 14. Song Jian， president of the CJFA; Jing Dunquan， vice president of the CPAFFC and the CJFA; Tomiichi Murayama， former Japanese prime minister and honorary adviser to the JCFA; Koichi Kato， president of the JCFA; Tetsuo Sakai， vice president of the JCFA; and Takeki Manabe， governor of Kagawa Prefecture， among about 300 representatives from China and Japan， attended the conference.

Song Jian pointed out， since the 11th conference in 2007， the Sino-Japanese relations have， after the “ice-breaking”， “ice-thawing”， “spring- heralding” and “warm-spring” visits by the leaders of the two countries， witnessed a significant development and great breakthrough. Recently， through frequent meetings， the leaders of the two countries reached a number of important agreements on Sino-Japanese friendly cooperation， which has promoted the further growth ofSino- Japanese friendly relations. Now China and Japan have entered a new phase of all-round promotion of the strategic and mutually beneficial relations with new opportunities for accelerated development. However， we also should see soberly that there still exist some weak links in the Sino-Japanese relations and the friendly feelings between the two peoples are relatively fragile， hence the nongovernmental organizations of both countries must work hard to implement the agreements reached by the leaders， to deepen friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of politics， economy， science and technology， culture and people-to-people exchanges， and to constantly foster the amicable feelings between the two peoples， so as to truly reflect the virtue of oriental culture “universal love and mutual benefit” and contribute to the long-term， sound and stable development of the Sino-Japanese relations.

President Koichi Kato said， in the history of Sino- Japanese relations， the remarks made by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995 laid the foundation for the stable development of Sino-Japanese relationship in the new era. The friendly relationship between Japan and China is beneficial to peace and prosperity of Asia and the whole world. When participating in the Beijing Paralympics Opening Ceremony in September 2008， he had the honour of meeting with President Hu Jintao. Even before the full breakout of the world financial crisis， President Hu already expressed his great concern over the harms and the possible continued spread of the crisis and showed his confidence and determination to deal with the worsened situation， which was really admirable. In the current financial crisis， Japan and China should join their efforts to respond to the challenges. He hoped the nongovernmental organizations of both countries would take the opportunity of the 12th Conference on Sino-Japanese Friendly Exchanges to make new contribution to the cause of Japan-China friendship.

In his keynote speech， Vice President Jing Dunquan made six suggestions on deepening the people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between the two countries and promoting the stable development of Sino- Japanese relations: first， adhering to the principles set in the four political documents such as the Sino-Japanese Statement，to consolidate the political basis of Sino-Japanese relations from the high plane of strategy; second， promoting economic and trade cooperation between China and Japan to expand the common interests of the two countries; third， increasing cultural and people-to-people exchanges to serve as a bridge of communication between the two peoples; fourth， speeding up the cultivating of successors to pass on China-Japan friendship from generation to generation; fifth， developing exchanges and cooperation between localities of the two countries to bring new content and vigour into bilateral friendship; sixth， guiding the public opinion for China-Japan friendship in the new era to maintain a favourable orientation for the sound development of the relations.

In his keynote speech， Vice President Tetsuo Sakai said， the visits between the heads of our two countries and the exchange programmes in various areas made by governments have opened up a new prospect in people-to-people friendly exchanges. Under the new situation， the central task of the nongovernmental organizations of both countries is to carry out varied forms of exchange activities， deepen our mutual understanding， guide and maintain a sound development of the national sentiments， and create a favourable atmosphere for the vigourous growth of Sino-Japanese friendly relations. The friendship organizations of both countries should have the general situation in mind， while concentrating their efforts on particular work， and take up the noble mission of developing a new era of Sino- Japanese relations.

During the conference， the representatives of both sides were divided into four groups for discussion on the two keynote speeches， and many constructive suggestions on the development of Sino-Japanese friendly relations in the new era were put forward. The representatives of both sides held that the conference has not only exchanged and summarized experiences of carrying out nongovernmental exchanges and cooperation between the two countries， but also clarified the direction and tasks for the future friendship work.

During his visit in Japan， Song Jian specially paid homage to the late prime minster Masayoshi Ohira’s tomb， visited the headquarters of the Shorinji Kempo Group and conferred the title of China-Japan Friendship Envoy on its president Yuki So.