The improvement in Sino-Japanese relations, marked by increasing country-to-country exchanges, is one of the highlights of 2019. In fact, mutual trust between China and Japan is increasing despite their different political outlooks.

At his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before the recent eighth China-Japan-Republic of Korea leaders' meeting, President Xi Jinping said Beijing and Tokyo need to advance bilateral ties to a higher level for the benefit of the two peoples. Abe, on his part, said Japan attaches great importance to Xi's visit to Japan, scheduled for the spring of 2020, and will further promote cooperation with China in the fields of trade, tourism, culture and sports.

The fact that Sino-Japanese relations were warming up was evident much before the recent tripartite meeting－when Abe conveyed his best wishes to the Chinese people on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Feb 2019 and the Tokyo Tower was bathed in red light for the first time for Spring Festival.

Besides, Vice-President Wang Qishan attended the new Japanese Emperor Naruhito's coronation ceremony in October, which demonstrated the two countries' sincerity to improve relationship.

As Xi has stressed, China and Japan share more and more common interests and concerns, and should continue to make joint efforts to improve bilateral ties so as to meet the requirements of the new era and promote world peace and stability.

Economic cooperation between the two countries has also improved. A special train of China-Europe Railway Express carried goods－such as liquid crystal display panels, cameras and auto parts worth more than $17 million－produced by Japanese enterprises operating in China in December 2018.

The arrangement was elevated to a higher level in 2019, and a batch of goods from Yokohama that arrived at Xiamen port in Fujian province was transported to Duisburg in Germany through the China-Europe Railway Express in April. Major Japanese logistics companies including Nisshin Logistics Co, NYK Logistics and Sagawa Express Co have also started providing logistics services through China's railways, setting an example for other Japanese enterprises to make use of the Belt and Road Initiative to improve their connection with the European market.

Moreover, during his visit to Japan in May 2018, Premier Li Keqiang reached a consensus with Abe on third-market cooperation. China and Japan have also signed a memorandum on business cooperation in third countries, and during Abe's visit to China in October 2018, the two sides started 52 programs. And by the end of April 2019, positive progress had been made in more than 20 of those programs.

Also, Japan Bank for International Cooperation has supported China's investment as well as participated in infrastructure and other projects along the Belt and Road routes in Central Asia.

The two sides are also cooperating on regional and global economic issues. For example, the 15 members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, except India, recently concluded the negotiations on the text of an agreement, which is expected to be signed in 2020. This is one of the most important achievements of Sino-Japanese economic diplomacy.

China and Japan have made huge progress in people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, too. Japan held the "China Festival in 2019", which concluded in November. Mutual visits reached 12 million person-times in 2018 thanks to the more than 1,400 direct flights between the two countries. And the figures are expected to increase in 2019.

Overall, China-Japan relations greatly improved in 2019 in areas such as high-level exchanges, mutual trust, economic cooperation, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Which have laid a solid foundation for deepening Sino-Japanese cooperation, and President Xi's visit to Japan, scheduled for early 2020, is expected to further boost bilateral relations and strengthen mutual trust.

The author is a professor at and deputy director of Japanese Studies Center, China Foreign Affairs University. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.