Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets with his Japanese counterpart, Yasuo Fukuda, on the sidelines of a series of ASEAN meetings in Singapore on Nov. 20, 2007. - Xinhua

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met his Japanese counterpart Yasuo Fukuda in Singapore today, saying China is committed to developing long-term, stable and cooperative ties with Japan.

During his first meeting with Fukuda, who took office in September, Wen said China attaches great importance to developing Sino-Japanese relations and will, as always, stick to its friendly policy towards Japan.

China is ready to make joint efforts with Japan to maintain the momentum of improvement and development in bilateral ties and achieve even greater progress in bilateral cooperation in various fields, Wen said.

The priority now is to make preparations for a series of high-level visits, make the first high-level economic dialogue to be held in Beijing next year a success, map out a comprehensive plan for economic and trade cooperation, and identify the key fields of cooperation, Wen said.

The two countries should also be well prepared to conduct a series of activities commemorating the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty, so as to promote mutual understanding and friendship, strengthen exchange and dialogue in the defense area to deepen mutual trust and accelerate the process of negotiations on the East China Sea issue, in a bid to achieve substantial progress as early as possible, he said.

Wen noted that since the two countries' leaders resumed contacts and exchanges a year ago, they have reached consensus on some sensitive issues such as appropriate handling of Taiwan and historical issues, the construction of a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship and achieving the goal of "peaceful coexistence, friendship for generations, mutually-beneficial cooperation and common development."

"The bilateral relations saw an important and hard-earned opportunity for improvement and development, which we should all cherish," Wen said.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a series of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings being held in Singapore.

For his part, Fukuda reiterated that Japan's position on the Taiwan issue is consistent and will not change.

Fukuda said Wen's visit to Japan earlier this year has deepened Japanese people's friendly sentiment towards China and served as a strong catalyst for the improvement of bilateral relations.

In April, Wen paid a three-day official visit to Japan during which he reached consensus with Japanese leaders on forging a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.

It is a common task for Japan and China to push forward the strategic and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship, the Japanese prime minister said.

Fukuda expressed his wish to visit China at an early date, possibly within this year or at the beginning of next year, saying the Japanese side is willing to maintain high-level visits.

The year 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty.

The Japanese side hopes to seize this opportunity to increase contacts and expand cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, defense, environment, and humanism, the prime minister said.

He also expressed his willingness to enhance coordination on international and regional affairs between Japan and China.

He said Japan hopes to seek an appropriate solution to the East China Sea issue through negotiations as early as possible.

The two sides agreed that the year 2008 will be "The Year of China-Japan Youth Exchange."