On May 7, 2008, visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Japanese Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Hailing Hu's state visit to Japan, the emperor enjoyably recalled his visit to China in 1992, the 20th anniversary of the normalization of the China-Japan relations. Japan and China have a long history of friendly exchanges, and historical events such as Japan sending envoys to China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) have been fine stories popular for more than a thousand years, said Emperor Akihito, who expressed his wishes for a brighter future of the Sino-Japanese relations.

The Chinese president, for his part, said Emperor Akihito's visit to China 16 years ago was a success and left deep impression on the Chinese people. China and Japan, which are close neighbors separated by only a narrow strip of water, both have long histories and share centuries-old people-to-people friendly exchanges, during which the two peoples learn from each other to promote their own development and progress, Hu said. While lauding Emperor Akihito's regard to the development of the Sino-Japanese relations, the president said that bilateral relations between the two countries are facing new opportunities for further development, and China is willing to make joint efforts with the Japanese side to usher in a new prospect for the overall development of the Sino-Japanese strategic and mutually beneficial relations.