Time for China-Japan ties to forge ahead

The China-Japan relationship enjoyed almost 30 years of a "developing period" and a "win-win period" after the normalization of bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries. But that was followed by five years of a "freezing period" and a"lose-lose period". Fortunately, bilateral relations between China and Japan as a whole have increasingly shown signs of improvement in the past two years, thanks to joint efforts by people from all walks of life in both nations.

The then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official visit to China in October 2006, dubbed the "ice-breaking trip", ended a five-year frosty period, during which the two nations exchanged no visits by top government officials. During Abe's visit leaders of the two countries reached a consensus on establishing a strategic relationship of mutual benefit.

In April 2007, Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Japan proved to be a huge success. Its highlight was his speech in Japan's legislature, which won warm welcome and praise from opposition as well as ruling coalition members of the Japanese parliament. It showed Japan's political parties, ruling and opposition alike, largely shared the same stand on the issue of improving bilateral ties with China.