A senior Chinese official said in Beijing Wednesday that the difficult situation facing China-Japan relationship in recent years is not what China "wants to see".

Wang Guoqing, deputy director of the Information Office of the State Council, said that China will continue to adhere to its friendly policy on China-Japan relations despite the current difficult situation in bilateral ties.

"However, a necessary condition for putting Sino-Japanese relations back on track requires Japan to give up its wrong interpretation of history", Wang stressed at a press briefing to a few Chinese and Japanese news organizations.

The invasion of China launched by Japanese militarists during WWII was not only a disaster for Chinese people, but Japanese people were also deeply affected.

"This is a lesson worth remembering forever", Wang stressed, adding that Chinese and Japanese people have learned from each other and achieved common development throughout their 2,000-year history of friendly exchanges.

In response to a question on China's view on bilateral relations and the significance of the development of China-Japan friendly relations, Wang highlighted that the history of bilateral relations have already proved that peace is conducive to the two nations and that strife harms both.

"The development of China-Japan relations serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples and contributes to the Asian and world peace, stability and development", Wang said.

Wang said China and Japan successfully normalized diplomatic relations in 1972 through efforts of Chinese and Japanese leaders from previous generations following the establishment of New China.

China-Japan friendly and cooperative relations witnessed comprehensive development for more than 30 years, Wang said, adding that the two countries scored unprecedented achievements in cooperation in various fields.

Wang also pointed out that China-Japan relations are now influenced and have been undermined by some negative factors, highlighting that relations are facing new opportunities as well as new challenges.

"The Chinese government has always valued China-Japan relations and regards it as one of the important bilateral relations in the world, and China will never be deterred from working to improve the ties", Wang said, stressing that as two of the most influential nations in Asia and the world they shoulder an important duty to safeguard world peace and promote common prosperity.

Source: Xinhua