On November 25, Yuan Mindao, Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), welcomed a 75-member delegation from Japan's Kansai business community at the CPAFFC.
Yuan Mindao expressed his warm welcome to the large delegation, marking their first visit to China in 12 years. He thanked the Kansai economic community for its longstanding dedication to China-Japan friendship, its active participation in China's reform and opening up process, and its valuable contributions to fostering exchanges and practical cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan. He also acknowledged their role in promoting the continuous improvement and development of China-Japan relations.
Yuan highlighted that President Xi Jinping recently met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, the capital of Peru. During the meeting, the two sides reaffirmed the all-round promotion of China-Japan strategic relationship of mutual benefit and will work together to build a constructive and stable relationship that meets the requirements of the new era, thus charting the course for the development of bilateral relations. Yuan further stated that the CPAFFC and the China-Japan Friendship Association are eager to collaborate with people of insight from all sectors of society in Japan, including the Kansai economic community, to vigorously promote friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in the subnational exchanges, economic, trade, and cultural fields, and contribute to the steady and sustained growth of China-Japan relations. Yuan concluded by wishing great success to Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
Yoshiyuki Miyabe, deputy head of the delegation and Representative Director of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives, along with other delegation members, also delivered remarks. They expressed gratitude to the CPAFFC for its pivotal role in facilitating people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between Japan and China over the years. They stressed that Japan and China are important and inseparable neighbors, particularly in today's complex and challenging international environment. Strengthening economic and trade cooperation and deepening people-to-people exchanges, they noted, are more important than ever. The delegation expressed their willingness to take this visit and Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai as opportunities to enhance exchanges and deepen cooperation with China, contributing to the sustainable development of Japan-China relations.
