Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met in Beijing Tuesday with a delegation from the Japanese Association of Governors headed by Asou Wataru, governor of the Fukuoka prefecture.

Hui, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that the exchanges between the local governments constitutes an important component of the friendly relations between China and Japan.

He voiced his hope that the local governments of the two countries will expand the cooperation and push forward Sino-Japanese friendly relations in the new century in the spirit of "learning from history and facing up to the future".

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2004)