China and Japan need to overcome their historical issues and prevent new ones from emerging in order to improve bilateral relations, said Minister Jiang Jianguo of the State Council Information Office at the ongoing Beijing-Tokyo Forum held in Tokyo on Tuesday.

China-Japan relations have been quite tense in recent years. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Japanese counterpart Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the recently concluded G20 Hangzhou summit, where President Xi reaffirmed China's position of improving relations with Japan.

Commenting on that, Minister Jiang said the Beijing-Tokyo Forum is both timely and significant in contributing to improvement of bilateral ties.

Jiang said that both China and Japan should hold onto the stability of their relations. "China-Japan ties have witnessed war traumas in history, but peace, friendliness and cooperation are the new normal and the trend of the times. As the two giants in Asia and the world's second and third largest economy, relations between China and Japan not only affect the well-being of their citizens, but also the peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and the entire world. Therefore holding onto peace, friendliness and cooperation is the only correct way forward for China-Japan relations."

The two sides are currently confronted with complicated issues, including historical ones and newly emerging ones, for instance the South China Sea issue, Jiang said. The two sides need to not only manage their historical issues, but also prevent such new ones from emerging, he said.

The minister urges think tanks, media, business and ordinary citizens of the two countries to further cooperate and contribute to bringing bilateral ties back to a normal track.

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