Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping pledged on Monday to bolster cooperation between Chinese and Japanese provinces and cities in a bid to further bilateral ties.

Xi hailed the current development of Chinese-Japanese ties during a one-hour meeting with Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture Governor Heita Kawakatsu and his predecessor Yoshinobu Ishikawa in the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

China and Japan were pushing forward the strategic and mutually beneficial relations in an all-round way, said Xi, who visited Japan last December.

China attached great importance to its relations with Japan and would work along with Japan to enhance political mutual trust and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, he said.

Heita Kawakatsu applauded the friendly ties and cooperation between Shizuoka, where the Fuji Mountain is located, and China's Zhejiang Province. Shizuoka and Zhejiang forged friendly ties in 1982.

He also promised to organize more than 3,000 Shizuoka residents to visit the upcoming World Expo 2010 in Shanghai in April.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2010)