On Oct. 19, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, President of China-Japan Friendship Association, conferred the title of China-Japan Friendship Ambassador upon Mr. Genjirō Kaneko, Japanese Senator and former Governor of Nagasaki, in Beijing. Mr. Song Jinwu, Vice President of CPAFFC, Ms. Wang Xiuyun, Vice President of China-Japan Friendship Association, Mr. Yang Yu, Counselor of Chinese Foreign Ministry Asian Affairs, Mr. Teng Anjun, former Consul General of the Chinese Consulate-General in Nagasaki, Mr. Li Wenliang, former Consul General of the Chinese Consulate-General in Nagasaki, Mr. Yamamoto Kyoji, Minster of Embassy of Japan in China, and representatives of Nagasaki attended the activity.   

Mr. Tang Jiaxuan said, during being the governor of Nagasaki, Mr. Genjirō Kaneko was actively engaged in China-Japan friendship cause and enhanced Nagasaki’s friendly exchanges and practical cooperation with provinces and cities in China, making great effort and contribution to strengthening friendship between Chinese and Japanese people, and promoting healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations. It is expected that Mr. Genjirō Kaneko can continuously care and support the China-Japan friendly cause, making greater and innovative contribution to the local-level communication between the two countries, furthering the development of bilateral relations.

Mr. Genjirō Kaneko thanked China-Japan Friendship Association for conferring such honorable title upon him, and looked back his contacting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and China-Japan Friendship Association’s President Tang Jiaxuan, and his experience of visiting China. He said that, this honor not only belongs to himself, but also to all the Nagasaki citizens who make extensive long-term exchanges with China. In the future, he will act as a true “ China-Japan Friendship Ambassador”,  sparing no effort in enhancing the communication between Nagasaki and China. 

Mr.Genjirō Kaneko had been consecutively selected as governor of Nagasaki for three times since 1998. He left his post in 2010; in the same year, he was selected as a Senator of Japan. During in charge of Nagasaki, he and his delegation visited China for 19 times, actively promoting the friendly exchanges and cooperation between Nagasaki and Fujian; especially when 1998 Yangtze River Basin catastrophic floods and 2008 Wenchuan earthquake occurred, he personally solicit benefactions for earthquake victims on street in Nagasaki, giving the victims valuable spiritual and material support.