Yu Weiguo, Party chief of Fujian Provincial Party Commitee, met a visiting Japan delegation on Tuesday on the sidelines of the seventh China-Japan ruling party talks in Xiamen, Fujian province.
The delegation was headed by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's secretary-general, Toshihiro Nikai, and the Komeito Party's secretary-general, Yoshihisa Inoue.
Yu extended a warm welcome to the delegation and briefed them on Fujian's deep ties with Japan during the meeting.
Yu said Fujian has a long history of friendly exchanges with Japan and the two parties in recent years have maintained a close bilateral economic and trade relationship.
Japan has become Fujian's fifth largest trade partner and the seventh-biggest foreign investor. This year, the volume of bilateral trade between Fujian and Japan has reached 61.4 billion yuan ($9.4 billion), an uptick of 12.45 percent over last year. To date, Japan has launched 1,373 investment projects in the province worth $ 2.63 billion in total, according to Yu.
This year is the 45th anniversary of normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, and also marks the respective 35th and 20th anniversaries of the establishment of sisterhood relationships between Fujian and Japan's cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, he said, adding that the seventh China-Japan ruling party talks in Xiamen is to further strengthen political trust and improve ties between the two countries.
As a core area of the 21st Maritime Silk Road, Fujian is set to play a vital role in the China-Japan cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, and is eager to take advantage of the delegation's visit to enhance cooperation with Japan in the fields of finance, trade, culture, education, tourism and environmental protection, while furthering people-to-people exchanges and contributing its efforts in the improvement of China-Japan relations, Yu added.
Yu's comments were supported by Toshihiro Nikai and Yoshihisa Inoue, and the two heavyweights from Japan's ruling coalition congratulated Fujian over its achievements.
The delegation hoped to play the role of a bridge to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, enabling more Japanese to know China, they said.
Japan has a long history of exchanges with Fujian, they added, and wants to get to know the province's latest development and explore cooperation opportunities to achieve common development under the Belt and Road Initiative framework.
First proposed in 2013, the Initiative is a national key project that aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.
China announced and implemented on May 15 a policy allowing visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.
China and Georgia are set to waive visa requirements for travelers starting May 28.
