Japan's ruling coalition was called to strengthen political trust and properly tackle differences with the Communist Party of China to boost mutually beneficial cooperation and keep improving bilateral ties, a senior CPC member said on Tuesday.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remark in the keynote speech at the seventh China-Japan ruling party talks, a two-day event that concluded on Tuesday in Fujian province.

Twenty delegates from the coalition, consisting of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party, attended the talks.

Song said President Xi Jinping made clear the principles and directions for both countries to improve bilateral relations when meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Da Nang, Vietnam, during the APEC summit. Ruling parties in both countries should carry out the consensus reached by the two leaders, enhance people-to-people exchanges and spare no efforts to promote continuous improvement of China-Japan relations, he said.

The Liberal Democratic Party's secretary-general, Toshihiro Nikai, and the Komeito Party's secretary-general, Yoshihisa Inoue, agreed that the talks were vital for strengthening political trust and improving ties.

Japan is ready to work with the Communist Party of China to enhance ties and create favorable conditions for the development of Japan-China relations, they said.

This year is the 45th anniversary of normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, and 2018 is the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between them.

The sixth such talks were held in Tokyo in August, when Song met with Abe, also president of the Liberal Democratic Party. Last month, a record of more than 250 businesspeople and entrepreneurs from Japan visited Beijing and met with Premier Li Keqiang.

huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/27/2017 page3)