On the morning of February 16, 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in his Prime Minister's Palace with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Li conveyed greetings from Chinese leaders to Abe and said China appreciates Abe's decision and efforts for mending ties with China. A stable Chinese-Japanese relationship, which benefits not only both countries, but also Asia and the world at large, is broadly welcomed by the international community, Li said. Premier Wen's upcoming visit will provide an important opportunity for the two countries to enhance mutual trust, to maintain the momentum for bilateral ties' improvement and development and to build a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship, he added.

Li said China attaches great importance to its ties with Japan and the purpose of his current tour is to pave the way for Wen's upcoming visit in April. Li said the two governments and their statesmen should make detailed plans from a strategic and long-term perspective to build a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship, attaining the lofty goal of "peaceful coexistence, friendship for generations, cooperation for mutual benefit and common development."

For his part, Abe said the Japanese government, the Japanese people and himself warmly welcome and look forward to Wen's visit. "I am ready to exchange ideas in depth with Premier Wen on further promoting cooperation with China, on establishing strategic, mutually beneficial relations, as well as on enhancing coordination in regional and international issues," Abe said.

Abe said during his China visit last year he reached a lot of important agreements with Chinese leaders. As this year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of the Japan-China diplomatic relations, Japan will, together with China, make new efforts for the stable development of the bilateral relations, Abe added.