Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao says China hopes to work with Japan to further bilateral relations. In a speech delivered at Japan's Waseda University, Hu Jintao also says that China will stick to its policy of peaceful development and never seek regional dominance. CRI's Zheng Chenguang reports.

Reporter:

Waseda University's Ookuma hall was fully packed on Thursday as Japanese students, scholars and officials listened intently to Chinese President's speech on furthering Sino-Japanese relations. The Chinese president said China will work together with Japan to usher in a new era of bilateral relations. Addressing a crowd dominated by students, Hu Jintao has also stressed the importance of the youth in both countries and their role in forging a long-term Sino-Japanese friendship.

"The young people of the two countries are the main taskforce who will forge the Sino-Japanese friendship. The future of this friendship is in your hands. I have been doing youth work for years and have special affection for the young people. My experience tells me that the seed of friendship sowed when we are young will blossom into a lifelong bond. We should make joint efforts to initiate this link and maintain a timeless friendship.

The president noted that China will invite 100 Japanese students from Waseda University for a visit.

Talking about China's foreign policy, Hu Jintao said China firmly adheres to its independent foreign policy of peace and mutually beneficial strategies.

"China abides by its defensive national defense policy, and will not join any arms race or become a military threat to any other country. China will never seek regional dominance and territorial expansion."

The Chinese president also said the traditionally friendly ties between China and Japan were seriously damaged by Japan's imperialistic invasion of China, but the two countries should look to the future.

"History is the most philosophical textbook. Instead of extending hatred, the two nations may take history as a mirror to look forward to the future, and cherish and maintain peace, so that the Chinese and Japanese peoples can maintain warm ties generation after generation, and everyone in the world can enjoy peace and stability forever."

Attending President Hu Jintao's speech, Japanese House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono said China and Japan should work together to achieve a prosperous future.

"China and Japan should work hand-in-hand, dealing with history and looking forward the future with full confidence."

President Hu arrived here Tuesday on a five-day visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese head of state in a decade. The visit, dubbed the "warm-spring" trip, is seen as a step to further improve the once-chilly relationship with China and Japan, which began to warm with an "ice-breaking" visit to China by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in October 2006.

Zheng Chenguang, CRI news.

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