BEIJING - Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang met with Japanese business leaders on Wednesday to discuss ways of increasing friendly bilateral cooperation.

The delegation of the Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade (JCAET), led by JCAET President Fujio Cho and Top Advisor Sadayuki Sakakibara, consisted of over 200 business people from 89 Japanese companies.

During the meeting, Wang said China attaches great importance to the delegation's visit. He also voiced appreciation over the JCAET's positive contributions to the development of bilateral ties.

It is Sakakibara's first visit to China since he became head of Keidanren, also known as the Japan Business Federation, in June.

The JCAET has started sending missions to China since 1975, three years after the two countries normalized diplomatic relations.

This is the 40th visit and the size of the delegation is the biggest ever, according to Sakakibara.