This year marks the 30th anniversary of China's adoption of the reform and opening-up policy. At the milestone Third Plenum of the 11th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, convened on December 18-22 30 years ago, the ruling Party made a resolute decision to shift the focus of the country and Party's work to the construction of socialist modernization.

This is also the year to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty. Inked on August 12, 1978, the treaty opened an epoch for a peaceful coexistence between the two neighbors. The two former adversaries also agreed to include a consensus into the treaty on countering hegemonism.

That the two historical events took place in the same year is by no means accidental.

On October 22, 1978, late leader Deng Xiaoping headed to Japan to attend the ceremony of exchanging the instruments of the Peace and Friendship Treaty. He also paid a visit to the country during the occasion.

The significant visit by a top Chinese official since the founding of the new China in 1949 not only promoted the development of bilateral relationship, but also helped Deng, the chief architect of the country's reform and opening-up initiatives, learn from the neighbor some beneficial experience on economic construction and development.

A war-ravaged Japan achieved an unbelievable economic miracle in years after World War II and succeeded in elevating itself to the rank of developed Western nations. A tour of Japan hammered home to the then Chinese leader the idea that a deepened friendly bilateral relationship with the booming neighbor would not only help China create a peaceful and stable surrounding environment to push forward its reform and opening-up policy, but would also be helpful to pursuing a bigger economic and trade cooperation with it and gain from it more assistance for China's economic development.

An advanced Sino-Japanese relationship turned out to be one of the key external factors behind China's efforts to push its reform and opening-up initiatives.

Experiences in the past 30 years indicate that Deng's diplomatic strategy toward Japan is a successful example on how foreign policies could serve the interest of the nation and its people.

As a positive response to China's diplomatic gesture, then Japanese leaders also actively pushed forward Sino-Japanese friendship and decided to offer to the less developed neighbor some official development assistance (ODA).

At the same time, Japan also benefited a lot from its substantial support extended to China. The vigorous economic growth in its largest neighbor also contributed to its economic recovery in recent years from a long-standing recession.

Japan had been taking the lead over other Asian nations in developing an industrialized economy since the Meiji Reform was launched in 1868. Since the end of World War II in particular, the East Asian nation achieved a dazzling economic growth pace in decades and then developed itself into the most powerful industrialized country in Asia. However, a strong sense of crisis emerged among some Japanese since the 1990s when the country suffered a decade-long economic recession. The rise of some of its surrounding nations was also believed to be a big threat to its dominant position in Asia. Since then, calls to reform the country have remained high in the Japanese society.

The ever-widening gap between the rich and poor in recent years has provoked strong dissatisfactions in the Japanese society. The international financial tsunami prompted an increasing number of Japanese to speculate over deep-rooted imperfections and contradictions in the capitalist system, once thought by some to be the most ideal economic development model.

Compared with Japan's crawling economic development, its neighbor China, however, has achieved a remarkable progress in the economic domain. It is now going all out to build a more scientific economic, political and social system.

In view of this, any move to go for a confrontation with a flourishing China would be unwise. As the two neighbors share many common grounds, such as their respect for Asian cultures, their pursuit of peaceful development and a harmony between man and nature, we have good reasons to believe the two countries can completely realize a peaceful coexistence and common development through deepened cooperation in the years ahead.

The author, Feng Zhaokui, is a researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily November 27, 2008)