ＪＣＦＡ Ｈｏｎｏｒａｒｙ Ａｄｖｉｓｅｒ Ｈｉｒｏｍｕ Ｎｏｎａｋａ ａｎｄ Ｈｉｓ Ｐａｒｔｙ Ｖｉｓｉｔ Ｃｈｉｎａ

A 34-member delegation of the Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA) led by Hiromu Nonaka， honorary adviser to the JCFA and former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party， visited China from April 12 to 15 at the invitation of the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA). Most members of the delegation are old friends who have engaged in activities for China-Japan friendship for several decades， and half of them are over the age of 70.

Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong， State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and CJFA President Song Jian met with Hiromu Nonaka and his party.

Vice President Zeng Qinghong spoke highly of the important contributions Hiromu Nonaka and the JCFA had made over the years to the development of Sino-Japanese friendly relations.

Zeng said， JCFA， set up in the following year of the founding of new China， is one of the earliest friendship-with-China organizations in Japan. Our friends in the JCFA have made positive contributions to advancing Sino-Japanese friendly and cooperative relations in the past several decades. He hoped that the personages of various circles in both China and Japan would， in the spirit of using history as a mirror and looking to the future， continue to explore new areas for friendly cooperation， create a new situation of Sino-Japanese friendship and devote their efforts to the development of long-term， sound and stable Sino-Japanese relations and lasting friendship between the two peoples.

Tang Jiaxuan highly praised the valuable contributions Hiromu Nonaka， a well-known political figure， has made to China-Japan friendship and hoped that he would continue to give full play to his political influence and make fresh contributions to promoting the sound development of Sino-Japanese relations.

Song Jian said， in the past 54 years since its establishment， the JCFA under the leadership of its former and present presidents， holding high the banner of China-Japan friendship， has made great contributions to the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan， the signing of Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty and the promotion of the healthy development of bilateral relations. In recent years， our JCFA friends led by President Ikuo Hirayama have carried out many meaningful activities such as taking part in the restoration of the Nanjing City Wall， donating to the construction of Hope primary schools， and promoting exchanges between the remote areas of China’s west and Japan. It is of special importance to increase personnel exchanges and expand contact between the people of various circles at present when problems have cropped up in Sino-Japanese relations.

Hiromu Nonaka said at these meetings， the Japan-China relations today are the fruit of arduous efforts made by the older generation of friendly personages of our two countries who have overcome many difficulties. At present difficulties have appeared in bilateral relations and events unpleasant to our Chinese friends happened from time to time. But we should not cut the blooming flowers while weeding out weeds. We should treasure dearly Japan-China friendship pioneered by the older generation of our two countries， for which they had experienced all kinds of hardships.

In Beijing， Hiromu Nonaka and his party also called on Wang Jiarui， head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China， Yuan Weimin， director of the General Administration of Sport， and the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games.