Wen told Abe that it is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples to develop a friendly cooperative relationship between China and Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao review the honour guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 8, 2006. Abe arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a summit with Chinese leaders at which he will seek a thaw in ties chilled by wartime history and will consult on North Korea's nuclear threat. [Reuters]

This is an irresistible general trend and common aspiration of the two peoples, Wen said.

Wen said the two sides should set store by the overall interests of the Sino-Japanese relations, conform to the world trend and the need of the people and to further develop the bilateral friendly relations of cooperation.

Recently, Wen said, China and Japan have reached consensus on overcoming obstacles which hindered bilateral ties and on promoting the sound and healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations, all of these helped realize the visit.

Abe said he believes the future of Japanese-Chinese relations will have "no cloud", and he is ready to further the dialogue between the leaders of the two countries.

The talks will be followed by Abe's meetings with President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo later Sunday.

Abe, who took office September 26, arrived in Beijing earlier Sunday for his first foreign trip as leader. He is also the first Japanese postwar prime minister who chose China as the destination of his first official overseas trip.