China said on Tuesday that it hopes Japan's new leader will make efforts to improve and develop bilateral relations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks at a regular press conference after Shinzo Abe was elected prime minister of Japan on Tuesday.

"We hope Japan's new leadership will make constructive efforts to promote the improvement and development of China-Japan relations," said Qin, adding China hopes Shinzo Abe will match his words with action.

Abe pledged to improve relations with its Asian neighbors in his policy platform during the campaign for the Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president.

Qin also called on Japan's new government, all political parties and circles to make efforts to improve bilateral relations, adding China will also make joint efforts to improve and develop bilateral relations with Japan.

Qin said Japan knows very well the major obstacle to improved relations with China. China-Japan relations soured when former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead, including 14 class A Second World War criminals, are honored.

China's stance on the shrine visit is "consistent and clear", Qin said.

Qin, depicting China-Japan ties as the "most important bilateral relations" for not only China but also Japan, stressed the Chinese government always attaches high importance on the development of bilateral, good-neighborly friendship of cooperation.

China is willing to promote friendship for generations, reciprocal cooperation and common development with Japan, he noted, adding China has made a series of important proposals in recent years for the improvement and development of China-Japan relations.

The "key point" is whether Japan can fully understand these proposals and China's purpose, and "concretely" adhere to the principle of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future, as well as the three Sino-Japanese political documents, Qin stressed.

Source: Xinhua