BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang called for efforts to deepen Sino-Japanese cooperation in energy conservation and environmental protection and create new economic growth areas while addressing a Sino-Japanese environment forum here on Saturday.
Li made the remark at the sixth China-Japan forum on energy conservation and environmental protection held in Beijing.
Li said, as the European debt crisis is still expanding, the global financial market undergoes much turmoil, and many countries are experiencing slower growth and rising prices, risks of a long-term recession are piling up.
Under such circumstances, Li said, a new growth pattern is needed more than ever.
China and Japan are large economies as well as major consumers of energy, and economic restructuring is in the interests of both, Li said, suggesting coupling China's advantage of a huge market with Japan's technological edge so as to enhance bilateral cooperation in energy conservation and environmental protection.
Furthermore, Li said as both countries are major importers of energy, the two should boost consultations on energy issues and get a bigger say on the international energy market.
Li also called upon both governments to financially aid cooperative projects in this field, and push forward a showcase project of circular economy which belongs to China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Additionally, Li expressed hope that Japan introduce its state-of-the-art energy and environmental protection technologies into China, and urged greater efforts to protect intellectual property rights.
Speaking of China, Li said the country is speeding up economic restructuring. Otherwise, either its long-term growth or the current fast and steady growth cannot be sustained.
Energy conservation and environmental protection are crucial to economic restructuring in that they create new fields for generating economic growth, Li said, adding that they spur new market demands, upgrade enterprises' technology, and improve people's quality of life.
This is where great potential lies in for China, a country that has just entered middle-income club, to further develop its national economy. And, this is also an unavoidable path for the nation to smash its resources and environment bottlenecks and realize sustainable development, Li said.
He added that China's energy conservation and environmental protection sector now boasts a gigantic market and enormous business opportunities.
While meeting with Edano Yukio on the sideline of the forum, Li urged closer bilateral cooperation in boosting energy saving and low-carbon economies.
Calling the two countries important nations in the region and the world, Li said to enhance China-Japan relations not only meets their interests but also benefits peaceful development and stability of the world, and in particular, the Asian-Pacific region.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao had several meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on international occasions in recent days, and reached important consensus on deepening bilateral strategic relations of mutual benefits, said the vice premier.
He called on both sides to take the opportunity of the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations, to strengthen dialogues, exchanges and cooperation in various areas, enhance mutual trust, and to facilitate long-term healthy growth of bilateral ties.
Edano Yukio told Li Japan is committed to boosting stronger cooperation with China in various areas.
The forum was initiated in 2006 with an aim to facilitate bilateral cooperation in energy conservation and environmental protection.
Source:news.xinhuanet.com