A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday voiced willingness to promote exchanges and cooperation with Japan across all fields.

China is ready to make concerted efforts with Japan to cement a friendship between the people's of the two countries and enrich a strategic relationship of mutual benefit, Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, told a delegation of the Japan Business Federation visiting Beijing.

"Economic and trade cooperation serves as an important pillar of Sino-Japanese relations," Li said, hailing the active role played by the Japan Business Federation in promoting bilateral ties.

The federation groups most of Japan's leading companies, industrial associations and regional economic organizations.

Noting that May 12 of this year marks the third anniversary of the devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that left more than 80,000 Chinese people dead or missing, Li said China sympathizes with Japan's suffering from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that rocked the nation.

He also expressed hopes that young officials from the two countries continuously conduct exchange visits in the future.

Hiromasa Yonekura, the federation chairman and head of the delegation, said they are willing to make efforts to enhance bilateral friendship while pushing forward contact between the young generations of the two countries.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2011)