A new chapter in China-Japan friendshipcity cooperation

Shen Haiting

O n July 21， a video conference was held in Jinan， Shandong province， to mark the 40th anniversary of friendship-city relations between the province and Japans Yamaguchi prefecture.

Li Ganjie， secretary of the Communist Party of Chinas Shandong Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Peoples Congress； Kong Xuanyou， Chinese ambassador to Japan； Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries； Tsugumasa Muraoka， governor of Yamaguchi； Uichiro Niwa， president of the Japan China Friendship Association； and Hideo Tarumi， Japanese ambassador to China， attended the event — Shandong-Japan Friendship-City Exchange Week —and delivered video addresses.

In his speech， Li Ganjie welcomed the Chinese and Japanese participants and thanked them for their support of his provinces economic and social development and openingup. He recalled the achievements of exchanges and cooperation between Shandong and Yamaguchi over the past 40 years and detailed the key accomplishments of high-quality development in Shandong.

He said that friendship-city exchanges and people-to-people friendship are a fine tradition and precious wealth in China-Japan relations. Shandong province will cultivate a friendship-city demonstration field of mutual trust， build a friendship-city cooperation belt of high-quality development and forge a future-oriented alliance of friendship-city youth exchanges.

He told the Japanese friends that Shandong is willing to share development opportunities with Yamaguchi， jointly tackle challenges， enrich cooperation， do more practical work to promote friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two places and inject vitality into the healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations.

The CPAFFCs Lin congratulated Shandong and Yamaguchi in his video speech on the 40th anniversary of friendship-city relations and acknowledged the fruitful outcomes of exchanges and cooperation between the two sides. He noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations. In 1972， the older generation of leaders of the two countries， with superb political wisdom and foresight， made a correct decision in line with the trend of the times and normalized China-Japan diplomatic relations.

Over the past five decades， Lin said， friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields have developed in an all-around way， bringing huge dividends of peaceful development to the two peoples. China and Japan have long been a development community with deeply intertwined interests， he said.

Lin noted that the 21st century is the century of Asia.

The “rise of the East and decline of the West” has become a major trend in the evolution of the world pattern， and global governance has entered the“Asian moment”， he said. As the second- and third-largest economies in the world， China and Japan have the ability and responsibility to jointly safeguard peace and stability and promote common development in Asia and the world at large.

Lin noted that China and Japan are geographically close and culturally connected， and both belong to the Confucian cultural circle. The thoughts of harmony， peace， pulling together for a common cause， the world being one family and putting people first are the values shared by the Chinese and Japanese people， the precious wealth of China-Japan relations and the Eastern values of both countries.

Lin put forward proposals to promote friendship-city exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. He hoped that people of vision from all walks of life in both countries would revisit their original aspiration to normalize diplomatic ties， deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges， explore new highlights in mutually beneficial cooperation， promote win-win cooperation for common development， carry forward the shared Eastern values and consolidate public opinion and the social foundation of both countries.

Tsugumasa Muraoka recalled that in 1982， Yamaguchi prefecture and Shandong province established friendship-city relations. Since then， he said， as close cooperative partners， the two sides have carried out exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of fields and achieved fruitful results.

“Looking to the future， Yamaguchi is willing to take the 40th anniversary as an opportunity and stay true to its original aspiration，” he said. “Yamaguchi will further deepen exchanges and cooperation in economy， environment， culture， education and human resources， and particularly enhance youth exchanges in the post-pandemic era. Yamaguchi will take local exchanges and cooperation to a new level and open up a bright future for JapanChina relations.”

Kong Xuanyou said that local exchanges are an important force boosting the development of China-Japan relations. The two countries should carry forward the fine tradition of promoting the central governments coop- eration through local exchanges， maintain the confidence in friendship， consolidate and strengthen the foundation of friendly cooperation and develop the cause of China-Japan friendship. He said he looked forward to continued exchanges and cooperation between Shandong and Yamaguchi and hoped to see more friends from all walks of life in China and Japan make new and greater contributions to the improvement and development of China-Japan relations.

Hideo Tarumi said local government exchanges are crucial to JapanChina relations. Both Yamaguchi prefecture and Shandong province have a long history and splendid culture， and many people of vision in Japan are deeply influenced by Confucianism.

“I am full of expectations for exchanges between the two sides and would like to actively promote local exchanges， cooperation and the continuous development of Japan-China relations，” he said.

During the exchange week， Shandong and Yamaguchi were scheduled to sign two memorandums on deepening friendship-city relations， enhancing exchanges and cooperation and strengthening exchanges with a cultural relics exhibition. A number of activities were planned， including a photo exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations， exchange meetings on friendship-city environmental protection and health industry cooperation and an online music concert for college students， among others.