Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged in Beijing on Monday to step up the sound and stable development of Sino-Japanese relations.

Sino-Japanese relations have taken on a positive outlook, and both sides should seize the hard-earned opportunities and do more to push the development of bilateral relations, Hu said in a meeting with the visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.

Peace between China and Japan leads to mutual benefits, and rivalry is damaging to both, Hu said.

Maintaining stable, friendly and mutually beneficial Sino-Japanese relations is in the interests of the two nations and the two peoples, and is also conducive to the peace, stability and development of Asia and the world at large, he added.

He also told the Japanese foreign minister that closer consultation and cooperation in regional and international affairs between the two countries is favorable for both sides to tackle global challenges like climate change, energy safety and environment protection, as well as regional safety issues.

Komura said that the Japanese side also hopes to advance bilateral relations through more high-level exchanges and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation.

Komura, who was here for the first China-Japan high-level economic dialogue, said his visit has been very fruitful.

He said the Japanese side would work hard to make preparations for the upcoming China visit by Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. He also conveyed hopes for President Hu Jintao to visit Japan at an early opportunity.

On the Taiwan issue, Komura stressed that Japan will stick to the principles stipulated in the 1972 joint statement, and will not change in the future.

The China-Japan high-level economic dialogue mechanism was jointly launched by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan during Wen's trip to Japan in April.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2007)