Chinese state councilor meets ex-Japanese PM on bilateral ties

TOKYO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on bilateral ties here on Sunday.

During the talk, Wang said that the current China-Japan relations continue to improve and develop, and both sides should make joint efforts to further enhance mutual political trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation, deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and overcome obstacles to ensure the healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations.

The two sides should encourage the two peoples to expand two-way exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and channel the momentum of improving China-Japan relations to the grassroots level, said Wang.

It is timely for Fukuda to actively advocate the establishment of a cultural exchange institution for an Asian community of a shared future, to which, China would offer active support, he said.

Fukuda said that Japan-China relations currently are seeing a sound momentum of development.

"I have gathered people with insight from all walks of life in Japan to set up the cultural exchange institution for an Asian community of a shared future, hoping to strengthen the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between our two countries and make positive contributions to the building of the Asian community and a community with a shared future for mankind," he said.