1st LD: Xi expects China-Japan ties back on normal track

President Xi Jinping told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday that China and Japan should "put aside disruptions" and bring their relations back on the normal track as soon as possible.

In their meeting held after a two-day G20 summit in the lakeside city of Hangzhou, Xi said China and Japan are important and close neighbors to each other.

Long-term healthy and stable development of bilateral ties is thus conducive to the benefits of people from both countries and to regional peace and stability, Xi said.

He said currently Sino-Japanese ties are still "troubled by complications at times." The two countries should put aside such disruptions and propel bilateral relations back on the track of normal development as soon as possible.

According to the Chinese president, China's basic standpoint to improve its relations with Japan has not changed. He said bilateral ties have now entered a key phase, where "no progress means regression."

"Both sides should bolster their sense of responsibility and crisis awareness, and work to build on the positive elements of bilateral ties while putting a lid on negative ones, in order to ensure stable improvement of relations," Xi said.

They should also make the most of the 45th anniversary of normalization of Sino-Japanese ties, to be marked in 2017, and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan the year after, to push forward Sino-Japanese ties, he said. Endi