Fukuda 'very happy' with talks with China leaders
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-29 16:31

BEIJING -- Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was "very happy" with Friday's talks with Chinese leaders, said a Japanese official on Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda delivers a speech at the prestigious Peking University in Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 28, 2007. Yasuo Fukuda arrived here for an official visit to China from Dec. 27 to 30. [Xinhua]

"The Japanese side is quite satisfied with yesterday's meetings, which were very fruitful," Mitsuo Sakaba, the press secretary for the Japanese Foreign Minister, told a press briefing.

Fukuda wanted to talk with Chinese leaders about Japan-China relations from a long-term perspective, and Japan and China could share "the same mid- and long-term vision" for their relationship, said Sakaba.

Japan and China are both major economies and exert great influence in the world; thus, they should make a joint effort and cooperate closely to achieve world peace and stability, he said.

On the itinerary of the Japanese prime minister, the spokesman said that Fukuda would head to Tianjin on Saturday afternoon to visit its new coastal development zone and a Tianjin Faw Toyota Motor plant.

He added that the Chinese government gave priority to the development of Tianjin, where there are about 650 Japan-funded enterprises and some 4,000 resident Japanese nationals. Fukuda wanted to see how Tianjin was developing, he added.

On Sunday, Fukuda is scheduled to visit the tomb of Confucius in Qufu, in East China's Shandong Province, said Sakaba. He added that it was the prime minister's personal wish, as Confucianism, along with Buddhism and Shinto, constituted the foundation of Japanese culture and was the common origin of both cultures.

On Sunday afternoon, Fukuda will conclude his four-day official visit, flying back to Japan from Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province.