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Chinese leaders on Thursday exchanged congratulatory messages with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, with analysts saying China and Japan show great sincerity to each other to keep developing the ties in a world with increasing uncertainties, despite the two sides have differences on many issues.

The China-Japan relations are not only significant for the two countries, but also important for the whole Asia, said experts. Based on the experiences in the past 50 years, it's clear that the cooperation will benefit both sides, while confrontation will only serve the interest of external forces that are more than happy to bring chaos to the region and to contain the two major Asian economies' development. 

Therefore, both sides, especially the Japanese side, need "political courage and strategic thinking," to withstand the impact from the external forces, especially the US, and make more pragmatic and independent decisions to fix and develop ties with China, which could mutually benefit both sides and add more certainty to this uncertain world, said experts.     

Exchange messages

In his message to Kishida, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that 50 years ago, the then Chinese and Japanese leaders grasped the situation with foresight and made a major political decision to normalize China-Japan diplomatic relations, which opened a new chapter in bilateral relations, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Japan relations, and stands ready to work with Kishida to lead both sides to jointly build a China-Japan relationship that meets the demands of the new era by taking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties as an opportunity and following the trend of the times.

In his message, Kishida said 50 years ago, the then Chinese and Japanese leaders, with strategic thinking and political courage, opened a new historic course in Japan-China relations.

During the past 50 years, Japan-China cooperation in a wide range of fields such as economy, culture and personnel exchanges, has made remarkable progress, Kishida said, adding that it is of great significance for the two sides to jointly create a new future for Japan-China relations.

Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that "Although China and Japan still have many divergences on issues including the sovereignty dispute in the East China Sea, the Taiwan Straits situation, the historical problem, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the leaders of the both sides still use the chance to exchange congratulatory messages, and this just proves that the two countries have a strong desire to improve and develop the relations."

The Japanese side stands ready to join hands with the Chinese side to focus on promoting the development of constructive and stable Japan-China relations as well as peace and prosperity of the two countries, the region and the world in the next 50 years, Kishida said.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Kishida also exchanged congratulations. Li said China and Japan are geographically close to each other and culturally connected, and are both important countries in the region and the international community. Li expected the two sides to push for a healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations with the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties as a new starting point. Da said China and Japan are the second and third largest economies of the world, and the two major powers with great potentials in Asia, so the bilateral ties do not just concern the development of the two countries, but will also have great influence on the future of Asia and even the world.