China and Japan should replace distrust and hostility with understanding and cooperation to develop friendship between them, the head of a Chinese non-governmental organization (NGO) said in Beijing Thursday.

China and Japan are close neighbors, and the mutual influence between them in the political, economic and cultural fields has laid a solid foundation for bilateral relations, said Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

Addressing the China-Japan Beijing Conference for Peace and Friendly Exchange, Chen said friendly cooperation has always been the mainstream in the history of China-Japan relations despite wars and conflicts. "We are optimistic about the development of China-Japan relations in the 21st century."

China and Japan had wars and conflicts for 51 years from the late 19th century to the first half of 20th century. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Chinese people's victory in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

Chen said that the review of the wartime events is unavoidable, but this can not be called an "anti-Japanese education."

"We are ready to conduct close cooperation and communication with friends from Japan to make more people aware of the significance of Sino-Japanese friendship", he said.

Keiichi Ito, head of the Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA), said the existing problems between Japan and China were mainly due to the ambiguous attitude taken by the Japanese government to review its war of aggression and its wrong-doings over historical issues.

"It is of great urgency to strengthen mutual understanding and trust. We should overcome barriers to the peaceful development of friendly relations between Japan and China", he stressed.

Mihoko Kakoi was only a four-year old girl when her parents died in a battle in China in August 1940. Then she became an "adopted daughter" of famous Chinese General Nie Rongzhen.

"I hope the Japanese and Chinese people can enjoy peace forever and there should never be such tragedy again," she told the conference.

"We should be determined to stop Japan from going back to war and fully understand the importance of the movement for peace. Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide to the future," said another female member of the JCFA, who worked 15 years for series of anti-war exhibitions in Japan.

The conference, co-hosted by the CPAFFC, the China-Japan Friendship Association and the JCFA, attracted more than 300 people from over 20 Chinese or Japanese non-governmental organizations like the All China Federation of Trade Unions and the Japan Peace Committee.

Source: Xinhua