On December 23, 2019, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at the Great Hall of the People.

Xi Jinping welcomed Shinzo Abe's attendance at the 8th China-Japan-Republic of Korea leaders' meeting in China. Xi Jinping pointed out, with the two sides' joint efforts, China-Japan relations saw continuous improvement and development. In June this year, during the meeting between Mr. Prime Minister and I in Osaka, we agreed to build China-Japan relations that fit the needs of the new era and jointly open up a new future of bilateral relations. At present, China-Japan relations face important development opportunities, therefore the Chinese side is willing to maintain close communication with the Japanese side, enhance political guidance, push China-Japan relations to new levels, and better benefit the two peoples.

Xi Jinping stressed, today's world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. The more complicated the situation is, the more we need to maintain strategic resolve and adopt a forward-looking vision that takes the overall situation into consideration. In order to develop China-Japan relations in the new era, the two countries should firstly reach a clear strategic consensus. We should plan bilateral relations with a global vision, enhance communication and coordination on the basis of sharing mutual respect and seeking common ground while shelving differences, and make active efforts to build a new pattern of cooperation and mutual benefit. This should be the joint strategic guidance for us to develop China-Japan relations in the new era. The two sides need to keep to the right direction under the guidance of the four political documents between China and Japan, properly handle relevant major and sensitive issues, and consolidate the political basis of bilateral relations. This should be the foundation that we should always uphold to develop China-Japan relations in the new era. Our resolution to uphold this foundation must be unwavering at any time. The two sides should implement the political consensus that China and Japan are cooperative partners and not threats to each other, and follow the spirit of "switching competition into coordination," to promote the forward-looking and continuous development of bilateral relations along the right track.

Xi Jinping noted, the two sides should expand practical cooperation and promote high-quality cooperation in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and in third-party markets, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in such areas as artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things, actively cultivate an innovative environment that features two-way opening-up, fairness, transparency and non-discrimination and strive for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation of higher level. We need to enhance people-to-people exchanges in culture, tourism and education, facilitate exchanges between youth of the two countries, expand cooperation between sister cities, support each other in hosting the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and consolidate the non-governmental foundation of the friendship between the two peoples. We also need to reinforce mutual trust in the field of security and work more actively to promote the building of constructive security relations. It is necessary to demonstrate international responsibility, maintain multilateralism and free trade, and promote the construction of an open world economy.

Shinzo Abe expressed, Japan and China this year had frequent high-level exchanges, which helped enhance mutual understanding and generate positive momentum for the development of bilateral relations. The development of bilateral relations carries great significance for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world at large. The Japanese side attaches great importance and looks forward to President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan in spring next year. The Japanese side is willing to communicate closely with the Chinese side to ensure a completely successful visit and build Japan-China relations that fit the needs of the new era. The Japanese side hopes to continue to expand practical cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, innovation, tourism, culture and sports, and is willing to work with the Chinese side to actively advance cooperation in third-party markets and strengthen communication and coordination on regional issues.

Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi, He Lifeng and others were present.