On October 10, 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met at the Great Hall of the People with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who is here for the second trilateral leaders' meeting of China, ROK and Japan.

Wen once again congratulated Hatoyama on his taking office as Japanese prime minister. Wen appreciated Hatoyama for attaching importance to and actively promoting the improvement and development of China-Japan relations over the years.

Wen said that with the joint efforts of both sides, China-Japan relations have overcome difficulties and ups and downs and have entered a new phase of building China-Japan strategic relationship of mutual benefits in an all-round manner. The development of China-Japan relations is of great importance to the two countries, Asia as well as the world. The two countries should stand at a new historical starting point to consider and deal with the bilateral ties from the perspective of Asia and the world, Wen said. Wen noted that they should firmly grasp the right direction of developing China-Japan relations, continuously increase strategic input and comprehensively boost cooperation with a strong sense of responsibility and sense of mission in the principle of the four political documents between China and Japan, so as to further enhance their relations and achieve the goals of peaceful coexistence, friendship for generations, reciprocal cooperation and common development between the two countries. Both sides should strive to bring benefits to both peoples and make greater contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and the world at large. Wen raised four-point suggestion on bilateral relations. First, the two countries should strengthen high-level exchanges and maintain timely communication on bilateral ties and important issues. Both sides should adhere to the spirit of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future and correctly handle historical issues. Both sides should properly address the East China Sea issue in accordance with the principled consensus reached by the two countries, which is conducive to building up mutual trust and improving national emotions of the two peoples. Second, both sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. Wen said China and Japan should give full play to the bilateral high-level economic dialogue and other mechanisms and enhance macroeconomic policy coordination to jointly cope with the global financial crisis. Both sides should boost cooperation in major fields of energy, finance, environmental protection, telecommunication and high-technology, in order to promote the continuous and stable growth of bilateral trade and investment. Third, the two countries should inherit and carry forward the friendly tradition between both peoples and increase cultural exchanges with persistent efforts so as to strengthen mutual understanding and friendly feelings between the two peoples, especially between the younger generations. Fourth, China and Japan should strengthen coordination on the regional and international issues to substantively advance the regional cooperation and integration in East Asia.

Hatoyama conveyed congratulations on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He said Japan will look into the future while facing up to historical issues. It will also strive to establish strategic and mutually beneficial China-Japan relations based on the four political documents. Japan would like to maintain contacts with Chinese top leaders, enhance bilateral cooperation in economy and trade, as well as promote cultural and youth exchanges, Hatoyama said.

Japan would also like to appropriately handle the East China Sea issue in line with the principled consensus reached by the two sides and make the East China Sea a sea of friendship between both countries, Hatoyama said.