Senior Chinese and Japanese officials said Tuesday that they are willing to make joint efforts to promote tourism between the two countries.

The strengthening of exchange and cooperation in tourism is in the interests of both countries and plays a very important role in enhancing mutual trust and bilateral friendship, said Shao Qiwei, director of China's National Tourism Administration, at a meeting here.

He said China hopes the cooperation would be more concrete, smooth and in various manners. Focused on promoting lasting friendship, attention should be given to exchanges between younger generations, he added.

Referring to Japan's lifting visa restriction to group travelers across China on Monday, Chinese Ambassador to Japan WangYi said it turned over a new leaf in the history of China-Japan relations. He said he hoped that the increase of visitors to each other's countries would help deepen mutual understanding.

Senior Japanese officials, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa, also addressed the meeting, affirming the significance of bilateral friendship and expressing their optimismin the tourism development between the two countries.

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2005)