Chinese President Jiang Zemin especially wrote the title of the activity of "The 10,000-people friendship forestry for China-Japan friendly ties", which was engraved on a monument unveiled during the ceremony.

Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto attended the ceremony.

"We hope this monument can forever stand in the hearts of Chinese and Japanese people," said Jia Qinglin, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The "friendship forestry" would stand witness to long-lasting Sino-Japanese friendship, said He Guangwei, director of China National Tourism Administration.

"China and Japan, as good neighbors, gather here to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese ties, in order to express our common wish for friendship from generation to generation," said Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

"The tree planting symbolizes friendship between the two nations. I hope bilateral relations can develop deeper and wider," said Japan's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi.

(People's Daily September 23, 2002)