The two countries also agreed to launch a joint historical research program by the end of this year. Organized by the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Japan Institute of International Affairs, the joint research is aimed at making a new breakthrough in the hot-button issue of wartime history.

China and Japan will build mutual trust in the security field through security dialogues and defense exchanges, the countries announced. Military exchanges, such as dialogues between the two militaries, visits by naval fleets, exchanges between military officers and joint military drills, are expected to resume soon.

The two countries will also hold a year of cultural and sports exchanges in 2007 to mark the 35th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations. The program is designed to promote people-to-people and youth exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and improve the perception of each other's country.

At the same time, they will strengthen coordination on regional and international affairs. The two countries are expected to reach a consensus on East Asian regional cooperation and integration, strengthen dialogue on UN reform and maintain that the North Korean nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue in the framework of the six-party talks with the aim of denuclearizing the peninsula.

Third, bilateral political relations have been brought back on track. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing exchanged views with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso on implementing the common understanding reached by President Hu and Prime Minister Abe over the phone on October 9, one day after Abe's visit to Beijing. On October 15, a delegation led by President of the Japanese House of Councilors Chikage Oogi visited China to enhance parliamentary exchanges. On the same day, Wang Jiarui, Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, visited Japan, where he and delegation members attended a five-day meeting convened under an exchange mechanism between the ruling parties of the two countries. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao received the members of the New China-Japan Friendship Committee for the 21st Century, encouraging them to put forward suggestions on establishing mutually beneficial strategic relations between the two countries. The foreign ministers of the two countries met in Hanoi on November 16.

Thanks to the exchanges, visits and meetings at various levels, China and Japan have overcome the barriers formed in the Koizumi era, as their relations were restored and strengthened.

Fourth, friendship is taking root in the two nations. According to an opinion poll of the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, 14.6 percent of the Japanese public expect the Abe Cabinet to improve Japan's relations with China and South Korea and 52.2 percent believe the prime minister should not visit the Yasukuni Shrine. A survey conducted by China Youth Daily showed that 76.9 percent of the Chinese public believes that China-Japan relations are important and 45.2 percent said Abe's visit to China had positive implications. After the stalemate during Koizumi's tenure, the two nations have once again embraced reasonable views of bilateral relations. The high percentage of respondents valuing China-Japan relations in China in particular is a clear indication that the friendly ties between the two countries conform to the will of the general public.