On May 4, 2008, President Hu Jintao accepted a joint interview by the journalists from 16 Japanese media institutions stationed in Beijing before his upcoming state visit to Japan.

President Hu firstly asked the media institutions to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to the Japanese people. He pointed out, "my upcoming state visit to Japan is amid the warm spring blessed with blooming flowers. It is a journey with the atmosphere of warm spring. I sincerely hope that the friendship between the people can be as warm as the spring and last forever."

Hu said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. With concerted efforts by both sides, bilateral exchange and cooperation in various fields have witnessed productive results in the past three decades, brought about substantial benefits to the people and made important contributions to the peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and the world at large. It has been proved that the development of a long-term and stable relationship of good-neighborly friendship between China and Japan is consistent with the fundamental interest of the two countries and the people.

Hu said,"my visit to Japan this time is aimed at enhancing mutual trust, strengthening friendship, deepening cooperation, planning the future and advancing the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between China and Japan in an all-round way. I'm expecting to meet with His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, have an in-depth exchange of views with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on the development of bilateral relationship and issues of mutual interest, and have extensive contacts with the Japanese people from different walks of life. I believe that this visit will achieve expected results with concerted efforts of both sides."

With regard to enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the people, Hu said, "China and Japan are close neighbors separated only by a narrow strip of water and facing each other across the sea. The friendly exchanges between the people can date back to more than 2,000 years ago. The friendly relationship between China and Japan are widely supported and recognized by the people. This is the solid foundation for us to develop the friendship. It is inevitable that we will encounter some conflicts and problems during the development of bilateral relations. It is normal to have different views. But what's more important is that both sides should treat each other sincerely, have friendly exchanges, seek common ground while shelving differences, jointly promote the friendliness between the people and maintain the overall direction of bilateral relations."

Hu stressed that the most effective way to enhance the friendliness between the people is to constantly strengthen the friendly exchanges between the people, especially the exchanges between the young people. They may increase understanding and deepen friendship in such a process and then turn the principle of "peaceful coexistence, friendliness for generations to come, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development" into their firm belief.

While answering the question about his impression of the Japanese people, Hu responded, "I was responsible for receiving 3,000 Japanese youths in 1984 during their visit to China. I led a Chinese delegation consisting of 200 youths to Japan in 1985. I visited Japan again in 1998. I often met with Japanese guests in Beijing. So I made many Japanese friends, including politicians, entrepreneurs, artists and friendly ordinary people. During the talks with them, I was deeply impressed by their enthusiasm, friendliness, diligence, wisdom, resolution and fortitude. I have a profound feeling that the Japanese people, just as the Chinese people, hope that China and Japan may coexist friendlily. I hope that I can meet with my old friends and make new friends during this visit."

Talking about the Beijing Olympic Games, Hu pointed out," the Beijing Olympic Games is a grand sports event of the world. The Olympic Games not only belongs to the Chinese people but also the Asian people and the people in the rest of the world. A successful Olympic Games should firstly develop the Olympic spirit of promoting solidarity, friendship and peace, promote the spread and development of the Olympic movement and enhance the understanding and friendship among the people in the world. I believe that with the wide participation of the people from different parts of the world, including the Japanese people, and with the support from the international Olympic family, the Beijing Olympic Games will be a high-level sports event with distinguishing characteristics. The preparatory work for the Beijing Olympic Games is progressing in an intensive and orderly way. We warmly welcome athletes from all over the world to attend the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games and welcome foreign friends to come to Beijing and watch the Games. I sincerely hope that all athletes, including those from Japan, can achieve satisfactory results in the Beijing Olympic Games."

While answering the question concerning the engagement between the Chinese government with Dalai, Hu pointed out, "in view of the request raised repeatedly by the Dalai Lama side to resume talks, the responsible officials of the Chinese central government will meet with the private representatives of Dalai Lama. I hope positive results can be achieved. China has an old saying, 'take note of a man's words but judge him by his deeds'. We should judge a person not only by what he says but also by what he does. Our policy on the Dalai Lama is always clear and consistent, and the door of dialogue is always open. We sincerely hope that the Dalai Lama side can take concrete actions to prove that they have stopped separatist activities, stopped masterminding and instigating violent activities and stopped activities disrupting the Beijing Olympics so as to create conditions for further consultations."

Hu stressed that the system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities in regions where the ethnic minorities concentrate was clearly stipulated in China's Constitution. Hu also outlined the basic content of China's ethnic minorities policy: all the ethnic groups in China are equal; the state protects the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic minorities; the state aims at maintaining and developing a socialist ethnic relationship featuring equality, solidarity, mutual assistance and harmony. The practice of such system since the founding of the New China over 50 years ago has proved that, the system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities and China's ethnic policies accord with China's reality. China will continue to implement and improve this basic political system and those effective ethnic policies for the welfare of all ethnic groups.

While answering the question concerning the dialogue meeting between G8 and developing countries to be held in Japan, Hu said, "G8 has increased links and dialogue with developing nations in recent years. This is a positive trend conducive to advancing South-North dialogue and cooperation, pushing forward the development of multilateralism and promoting the resolution to global issues. We hope that all parties attending the dialogue can conduct full discussions on major international issues of common concern and make contributions to the resolution of major and urgent global issues in the spirit of equality among all participants, mutual benefit and win-win results."

With respect to the issue of joint exploration of oil and natural gas resources in the East China Sea, Hu stressed that China attached great importance to the East China Sea issue and had made great efforts to resolve the issue. "The two foreign ministries have conducted profound and beneficial consultations based on the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and has made positive progress. I believe, with joint efforts, we can definitely find a solution, which can be accepted by both sides and the issue can undoubtedly be resolved properly."

With respect to the export of dumpling to Japan, President Hu Jintao said that China attached great importance food safety and the health of the people. "The Chinese government has devoted much attention to the case. The Chinese government has instructed relevant departments to make an earnest and thorough investigation. China has had close communications with Japan on the progress of the investigation. China is prepared to have consultations and cooperation with Japan to establish a long-term mechanism for food safety. I hope that China and Japan can strengthen investigation and cooperation so as to find the truth of the case as soon as possible."

Concerning the request raised by the Japanese that China send a pair of pandas for the purpose of joint research, Hu said, "we understand the aspiration of the Japanese people. I also noticed that Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda had paid great attention to the issue. I can tell you that the related departments of China are actively working on this issue.

Ling Jihua, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, Wang Huning, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Director of Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi were present at the interview.