Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged here Sunday that "proper conditions and atmosphere" should be created to facilitate the resumption of the exchange of high-level visits between China and Japan.

"We should proceed from the fundamental interests of the peoples of both countries and follow the principle of 'draw lessons from history and look into the future'," said the minister at a press conference.

In response to a Japanese reporter's question when the premier and prime minister of China and Japan can resume the exchange of visits after several years of halt, Li said that he believes Japan and China, and the peoples of both countries, should carry forward their friendship from generation to generation.

"Over the past couple of years, the leaders of the two countries have been meeting for several times on multilateral occasions, and they have had very friendly discussions," he added.

Source: Xinhua