BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan should seize the current opportunity and jointly work to ensure that China-Japan relation develop in a long-term, healthy and stable way, said Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan on Sunday.

    Tang made the remarks when he met with a a Japanese delegation headed by Hidenao Nakagawa, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary general of the ruling coalition partner New Komeito.

    This year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will pay an official and good-will visit to Japan in April.

    "We hope the two sides will work together to promote cooperation in the fields of trade, energy saving and environmental protection, expand and beef up personnel exchanges, and properly handle sensitive issues to improve strategic trust," Tang said.

    Hidenao and Kazuo said the Japanese government and ruling parties would make active efforts for the success of Premier Wen Jiabao's visit and join hands with the Chinese side to push forward the strategic relationship based on reciprocity with China.

    Tang said the two sides should take the chance and work to ensure the China-Japan relationship develop in a long-term, healthy and stable way to contribute to peace, development and prosperity in Asia and the world at large.

    The Japanese delegation said Japan will make utmost efforts to ensure the success of Wen's visit.

    The delegation arrived here on Thursday for a five-day visit. Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with the delegation.

    Hidenao delivered a speech at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, and the delegates attended a seminar at the Renming University in Beijing.