Foreign Minister of Japan, Chinese Prime Minister Li Chang..."Hope to advance China-Japan relationship"

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited Beijing and paid a visit to Li Qiang, the prime minister of the State Council of China.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Li Chang earlier today, Iwaya said, "China-Japan relations are very important and we have confirmed that we will comprehensively pursue 'strategic reciprocal relations'," adding, "We want to advance China-Japan relations in line with this."

Prime Minister Lee Chang said he expects the relationship between China and Japan to be more friendly in each field and produce various results through cooperation and dialogue in the new year.

The Iwaya Foreign Ministry visited China for the first time since taking office in October, the first time in a year and eight months that the Japanese foreign minister has visited China since April last year.

Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month in Lima, Peru, and reaffirmed the promotion of strategic reciprocal relations.