On October 23, Ms. Li Xiaolin, President of CPAFFC met with Mr. Keiji Yamada, President of the National Governors’ Association, President of the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, and the heads of the local governments from Okayama Prefecture, Kyoto City, Kobe City, Katsuragi City, and etc.. Ms. Wang Xiuyun, Director-General of the Department of Japanese Affairs of CPAFFC , and Mr. Cheng Haibo, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Japanese Affairs of CPAFFC, attended the meeting.
President Li Xiaolin said, China and Japan are close neighbors. Maintaining healthy and stable development of bilateral ties not only is the fundamental interests of both peoples, but also is the common expectations of the countries in the local region and international community. At present, the China and Japan relations are facing with the opportunity of being further improved, yet there are still many complex and sensitive issues, which require the both sides to properly deal with. In order to elaborately safeguard the hard-won promising improvement of the bilateral ties, promoting mutual trust, being honest with each other, and expanding exchanges and cooperation are necessary.
President Li Xiaolin stated that, the local exchanges and cooperation are an important part of the Sino-Japanese relations; meanwhile, such local exchanges and cooperation are also a special opportunity to improve the bilateral ties. CPAFFC is willing to strengthen the cooperation with the Japanese local governments and relevant organizations, and continually promote the development of the friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries through platforms such as the China-Japan Governors’ Forum. CPAFFC would like to make contributions to enhancing the friendship of the two countries’ people, and furthering the Sino-Japanese relations development.
Mr. Keiji Yamada thanked President Li for the meeting and said, although the two countries are facing with some issues in specific areas, the two countries should focus on the overall long-term situation. The two countries should develop friendly exchanges and cooperation in various fields so as to promote the relations development continuously. The Japanese local governments would like to play an active role for the Sino-Japanese friendship and look forward to the third China-Japan Governors’ Forum held in Japan next year.
