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Hu, Aso agree on joint efforts to fight flu

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-01 09:49

China and Japan will join efforts to combat the spread of swine flu, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said yesterday.

At a news conference marking the end of his two-day visit to Beijing, Aso said he and President Hu Jintao had agreed to exchange information about the flu outbreak and coordinate on preventive measures.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in Beijing, capital of China, Thursday April 30, 2009. [Xinhua]

Aso also said he and Hu concurred that stimulating domestic demand is the best way to address the global financial crisis.

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"I think it is important that we do our utmost with our domestic policy centering on demand expansion in order for the Asian and global economies to recover," Aso said.

China overtook the US as Japan's largest trading partner in 2007 and both countries have been hit hard by slumping demand for their exports, especially in the West.

Aso also met Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday, and the meetings are the latest in a series of high-level exchanges pointing to a major improvement in ties.

"These achievements have not come by easily and should be cherished," Hu told Aso.

China froze high-level exchanges for five years during former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's term, when he paid annual pilgrimages to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.

Ties have largely recovered since Koizumi's departure from office in 2006.

Zhang Tuosheng, a researcher at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said Aso's visit focused on practical issues, proving bilateral ties have virtually got back to normal.

"Despite their diverse political backgrounds, Aso and the two Japanese prime ministers (Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda) after Koizumi are surprisingly coherent on China policies, which can be read as common understanding in Japanese political circles," Zhang said.

But there are still misunderstandings between the two peoples caused by Koizumi's repeated visits to the war shrine, he said.

"That's why all the three Japanese prime ministers after 2006 have stressed on people-to-people exchanges during their visits to China."

Aso said that in an effort to raise mutual understanding, 4,000 young people from China and Japan will visit each other's countries this year.

AP, Xinhua contributed to the story