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On May 10, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, together with H.E. Mr. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, attended the Chinese Culture Exhibition and the Welcome Reception for the Premier of the State Council of China in Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China held in Tokyo.

The Prime Minister said in his address at the reception,

“I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the Government of Japan to Premier Li, Chairman Sadayuki Sakakibara of the Japan-China Exchange Promotion Executive Committee, as well as all the guests gathering here tonight, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China. I would also like to once again extend my warmest welcome to Premier Li on his Official Visit to Japan.

With Premier Li, I held a frank and candid exchange of views for nearly two hours yesterday. Our summit meeting was fruitful and achieved many outcomes. We truly produced many concrete results, including on the installation of the Maritime and Aerial Communication Mechanism, which had been an issue for over 10 years, a social security agreement, an agreement on the joint production of movies, financial cooperation and measures aimed at expanding rice exports. We successfully demonstrated that leaders can deliver great results by meeting together and having frank and candid dialogue. Nevertheless, this is the first visit to Japan in eight years of the Premier of the State Council of China. It is unfortunate that it took this long even though the distance between our two countries is just a little over three hours by airplane. As we are close neighbors, we have various issues between us; of course, we also have different views over these issues.  We shall develop relations of perpetual peace and friendship between our two countries on the basis of various principles. Just 40 years ago, our predecessors in Japan and China drafted Article 1 of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship as such. With this Treaty serving as a major compass, Japan-China relations have sailed forward like a boat in the steady development of friendly relations despite experiencing headwinds on occasion. Proof of this can be found in the fact that Premier Li and I attend this 40th anniversary reception together and celebrate friendly relations between our two countries.

Even though we have had a number of toasts already, after this I would like to offer one more. I hope you will join me.

At yesterday’s summit meeting, Premier Li compared Japan-China relations with  a boat and said that he hopes to have this boat set sail again and voyage as far as possible. I am in complete agreement. 40 years ago both Premier Li and I were young men in our 20s. At that time, then-Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda and then-Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, two of the great politicians, ratified the Treaty of Peace and Friendship here in Tokyo, creating a compass for Japan-China relations for the four decades. It was not solely work done by these politicians. I must call your attention to the significant efforts made by many others from various fields of Japan and China behind the scenes, including business people and those from organizations promoting Japan-China friendship. I would like to once again express my deepest respect and gratitude for the efforts of our predecessors. Today, we who live in the present time bear the important responsibility to create a new compass for Japan-China relations aimed at the coming 40 years for the youth of both countries who are to shoulder the next era. From competition to cooperation. In setting sail for the future of Japan-China relations, both countries have entered an era of cooperation from this day forward. That is what I would like to stress here. If Japan and China work together, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. I firmly believe that we can fulfill a larger responsibility in various issues facing the region and the world. To address the robust demand for infrastructure in Asia, at the summit meeting, we agreed to establish a committee across ministries and agencies and between the private and public sectors, and a forum where the public and private sectors can meet under the leadership of myself and Premier Li. I would like to ask for the full cooperation of the business community, including the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), which generously hosted today’s reception, to steadily advance infrastructure cooperation between Japanese and Chinese companies across all of Asia. I also hope that all of you can join me on my next visit to China. There are much greater merits to cooperation than competition. Lastly, I would like to once again give my word that our two countries now share this broad vision and, with an eye on the next 40 years, will elevate Japan-China relations to a new level for the youth in the new era.

It is important for us to engage in mutual exchanges, visit each other’s country, and truly see the actual conditions. Among the people joining us from China today, some of you might have a misunderstanding that Shinzo Abe is somewhat of a scary person. But those whom I have met directly with end up saying that Mr. Abe is a nice person. I look forward to deepening exchanges with China and learning more about one another, and while building trust, transitioning from the era of competition to an era of cooperation, and together developing both our countries, the region and the world.
As I stated earlier, I too would like to offer a toast. I would like to once again toast the further development of Japan-China relations.”