Wang Jiarui, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) urged in Beijing on Tuesday Chinese and Japanese statesmen to seize the opportunity for the development of China-Japan relations.

"The current China-Japan relationship is seeing a good momentum of comprehensive development, and the governments, parties and statesmen of both countries should firmly seize the opportunity," said Wang, who is head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, in a meeting with visiting Vice President of the Democratic Party of Japan Katsuya Okada.

He said the two sides should earnestly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, and actively promote the cooperation on energy saving, environmental protection and response to the global climate change, in a bid to promote the China-Japan friendly cooperation towards a higher level.

Okada spoke highly of the efforts by the CPC and Chinese government on conquering the quake disaster, and said the Democratic Party of Japan is ready to promote bilateral cooperation on climate change in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2008)