The Sino-Japanese relations are facing new opportunities for further development, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in Tokyo Tuesday.

In a written statement issued at the airport upon his arrival in Tokyo, Hu said both China and Japan are important countries in Asia and in the world, and "the development of a long-term stable and good neighborly friendship between China and Japan is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples."

The Chinese president arrived in Tokyo Tuesday, kicking off a five-day "warm spring" trip to Japan aimed at boosting the strategic and mutually beneficial relations between the two Asian nations.

In the statement, Hu said this year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and the China-Japan relations are facing new opportunities for further development.

The president expressed the hope that his visit will help enhance mutual trust, strengthen friendship, deepen cooperation and make programs for the future, and added that China will work together with Japan to open up new prospects for comprehensively pushing forward the China-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations.

Hu said he will meet with Japan's Emperor Akihito, have an in-depth exchange of views with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern, and have extensive contact with Japanese people from different walks of life.

He expressed the belief that through joint efforts of both sides, his visit would achieve expected results.

Hu was greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai at the airport.

Hu's visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese president in a decade, is seen as a step aimed at further improving the once-chilly Sino-Japanese relationship, which began to thaw with the "ice-breaking" visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to China in October 2006.

That event was followed by the "ice-thawing" Japan trip by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April last year and Fukuda's "spring-herald" visit to China last December.

In an interview with Japanese journalists on Sunday, the Chinese president said his state visit to Japan will have the atmosphere of a "warm spring" and he wished for a "warm spring for the friendship between the two peoples."

The Sino-Japanese relations are improving further. The leaders of the two countries have maintained frequent contacts, and cooperation in politics, trade, culture and defense has been fruitful.

The two countries have also held close consultations on such global issues as climate change and sustainable development.

The economies of the two countries are deeply intertwined. China was Japan's top trading partner last year while Japan was China's third largest with two-way trade amounting to $236 billion. Japan's accumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has reached $60.7 billion, making Japan China's second largest source of foreign investment.

"The improvement and development of the Sino-Japanese relationship is in the fundamental interests of both peoples and also conducive to peace, stability and development in Asia. We are ready to make joint efforts with Japan to further the relationship," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a press conference on April 29.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2008)