Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reached an important consensus in October 2021 on the building of a China-Japan relationship. (PHOTO / IC)

BEIJING – Old and new issues are intertwined in China-Japan relations, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday, stressing that the difficulties and challenges facing bilateral relations cannot be ignored.

Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said this during a phone conversation with Takeo Akiba, secretary general of Japan's National Security Secretariat.

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Takeo Akiba said the Japanese side is ready to properly handle differences and strengthen communication on sensitive bilateral issues and international hot issues

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said this year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations, and that bilateral relations have reached a significant historical juncture.

In October last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reached an important consensus on the building of a China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era, providing guidance for the development of bilateral relations, he said.

The two sides should hold on to the right direction, adhere to win-win cooperation, bear in mind the long-term and general situation, enhance mutual security trust, make joint efforts to bring a stable, healthy and strong China-Japan relationship into the next 50 years, and jointly safeguard regional peace and prosperity, said Yang.

For his part, Akiba said the Japanese side is ready to deepen cooperation with China, properly handle differences and strengthen communication on sensitive bilateral issues and international hot issues, so as to jointly build constructive and stable Japan-China relations.

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Yang clarified China's principled positions on issues involving Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Diaoyu Islands.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.