Premier Li calls for boosting positive momentum in China-Japan ties

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Seoul, Nov 1, 2015. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

SEOUL - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met here Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and called for concerted efforts to maintain and strengthen the positive momentum in the rapprochement between their countries.

Citing the recent rough patch of China-Japan interaction, Li said the two countries both know the causes and should summarize the past and draw lessons from it.

They need to properly handle the sensitive issues in bilateral political relations under the spirit of looking at history squarely and taking history as a mirror, and keep a firm grasp on the overall development of their strategic relationship of mutual benefit, he added.

The meeting, held at the request of the Japanese side, came after the two leaders joined South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the first China-Japan-ROK trilateral meeting following a three-and-a-half-year hiatus.

China-Japan relations, which suffered traumatizing blows in 2012 and 2013 due to Japanese provocations on territorial and historical issues, have witnessed gradual recovery since the two countries reached a four-point principled agreement in November last year, which paved the way for an ice-breaking meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Abe days later.

Now bilateral security dialogue and exchanges between the two countries' governments, legislatures and political parties have resumed, and high-level contact has also been picking up steam.