Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan said in Beijng Tuesday that China and Japan should strictly abide by political documents between them and make joint efforts to establish stable, healthy and mutually beneficial ties.

He made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Japanese journalists now working in Beijing and their predecessors.

Developing friendship between China and Japan in the new century is in the fundamental interest of the two peoples and is conducive to the peace and development of Asia and the world as a whole, Tang said.

The Japanese journalists were here at the invitation of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mark the 40th anniversary of China and Japan mutually recognizing each other's journalists.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2004)