From March 25 to 30, Yang Wanming, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), led a delegation comprising of leading officials from six provinces (autonomous regions), namely Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, and Xinjiang, as well as representatives from 11 cities, including Dalian, Fuzhou, Qingdao, Shenyang, Urumqi, Aksu, Yancheng, Zhangzhou, Nanping, Yichun, and Zaozhuang, to visit Osaka Prefecture, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Okayama Prefecture in Japan. The delegation had extensive exchanges with more than 300 representatives from various sectors, including government and parliamentary leaders, people-to-people friendship organizations, business circles, media, think tanks, and universities from 31 cities in 14 prefectures in the Kyushu, Kansai, and Okayama regions. Yuan Mindao, the Vice President of CPAFFC, Xue Jian, the Chinese Consul-General in Osaka, and Yang Qingdong, the Chinese Consul-General in Fukuoka, attended relevant activities.

(Meet with Yasunori Nakaya, Speaker of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly, and Katsuhisa Mita, President of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union of the Prefectural Assembly)

In Osaka, President Yang Wanming met with Yasunori Nakaya, Speaker of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly; Shigeki Watanabe, Deputy Governor of Osaka Prefecture; and Katsuhisa Mita, Chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union of the Prefectural Assembly. He also held talks with the leadership of major economic organizations in the Kansai region, including Masayoshi Matsumoto, Chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation; Shingo Torii, President of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shoji Nagai, Representative Director of the Kansai Committee of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives; Yoshio Ito, President of the Japan-China Economic Relations and Trade Centre; and Kenji Imamura, Director of the Kansai Head Office of the Japan-China Economic Association. In addition, he met with the key personnel from friendly organizations and youth representatives in the Kansai region, including those from Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, and Shiga Prefecture. President Yang also visited Panasonic Corporation and met with its President Kazuhiro Tsuga. Furthermore, he made a special trip to Nara to visit Yukiji Tsukamoto, a well-known friendly personage honored as a "People's Friendship Envoy".

(Top left: Talk with the leadership of major economic organizations in Kansai; Top right: Meet with Shigeki Watanabe, Deputy Governor of Osaka Prefecture; Middle left: Meet with Kazuhiro Tsuga, President of Panasonic Corporation; Middle right: Talk with key personnel from friendly organizations in Kansai; Bottom left: Discuss with youth representatives in Kansai; Bottom right: Visit the friendly personage Yukiji Tsukamoto)

In Fukuoka, President Yang Wanming met with Akie Omagari, Vice Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture; Yoshitaka Eguchi, Deputy Speaker of the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly; Yutaka Naga, President of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union of the Prefectural Assembly; Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka City; and Motoyasu Uchikoshi, Speaker of the Fukuoka City Assembly. He attended the 2025 Kyushu China-Japan Friendship Exchange Conference and China-Japan Sister Cities Exchange Event jointly hosted by the CPAFFC, the Consulate-General of China in Fukuoka, the Japan-China Friendship Association, and the Kyushu Regional Japan-China Friendship Association. He also participated in a welcome dinner with Tokuichiro Utsunomiya, President of the Japan-China Friendship Association; Senichi Moriyama, Chairman of Fukuoka Prefecture Japan-China Friendship Association; and leaders from local governments, parliaments, and friendly organizations in Kumamoto, Okinawa, Kagoshima, and other prefectures. Additionally, he took an interview by Nishinippon Shimbun.

(Top: Meet with Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka City; Middle: Meet with Motoyasu Uchikoshi, Speaker of the Fukuoka City Assembly; Bottom: Meet with Akie Omagari, Vice Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture; Yoshitaka Eguchi, Deputy Speaker of the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly; and Yutaka Naga, President of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union of the Prefectural Assembly)

In Okayama, President Yang Wanming met with Ryuta Ibaragi, Governor of Okayama Prefecture, Katsunori Kamibo, Deputy Governor of Okayama Prefecture; and Masao Omori, Mayor of Okayama City. He watched the dance drama Crested Ibis currently on tour in Japan, with Governor Ryuta Ibaragi. He also attended an exchange event hosted by the Okayama Prefectural Japan-China Friendship Association, where nearly 100 representatives from various sectors of cities in the prefecture, including Okayama City, Kurashiki City, Bizen City, Ako City, Setouchi City, Tamano City, and Asakuchi City, participated.

(The images are: Meet with Katsunori Kamibo, Deputy Governor of Okayama Prefecture; Meet with Masao Omori, Mayor of Okayama City; Attend the exchange event hosted by the Okayama Prefectural Japan-China Friendship Association; Watch the dance drama Crested Ibis)

In his remarks, Yang Wanming noted that China-Japan relations are experiencing a positive momentum of improvement and development. All sectors of both countries are earnestly implementing the important consensus reached during the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Lima. The second meeting of High-Level Consultation Mechanism on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Japan, the Ninth Meeting of the China-Japan Ruling Party Exchange Mechanism, and the Sixth China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue have all been successively held. A series of positive interactions have taken place in various fields between the two countries, further enriching the new dimensions of China-Japan strategic relations of mutual benefit in political, economic, and cultural fields. Leading a delegation of Chinese city leaders to visit Western Japan, hosting the 2025 Kyushu China-Japan Friendship Exchange Conference and China-Japan Sister Cities Exchange Event, and engaging in dialogues and exchanges with local figures in Japan are important steps in maintaining the recent positive momentum in China-Japan relations and promoting people-to-people exchanges and sister-city cooperation.

Yang Wanming also stated that people-to-people exchanges are the "source of living water" for China-Japan relations. The Two Sessions recently concluded in China further demonstrated to the world the robust momentum behind China's high-quality development. China remains committed to high-level opening-up and actively fosters new productive forces, providing important opportunities for subnational and people-to-people exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. He emphasized that both sides should seize the opportunities, safeguard the political foundation of bilateral relations as outlined in the four political documents between China and Japan, expand practical cooperation, and focus on emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, green and low-carbon, and health and elderly care. These efforts will enrich the China-Japan strategic reciprocal relationship. He also highlighted the importance of fostering exchanges and dialogues across all sectors, particularly focusing on youth exchange programs to train the next generation of leaders in the friendly cause between the two countries, thus further improving the public opinion foundation for China-Japan friendship.

Yang Wanming introduced the important exchange activities planned by the CPAFFC for this year and encouraged representatives from local sectors in both countries to actively participate, creating a new wave of subnational and people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan.

Japanese sectors warmly welcomed President Yang Wanming and his delegation, noting that over 260 representatives from the subnational level in both Japan and China gathered in Fukuoka for the 2025 Kyushu China-Japan Friendship Exchange Conference and China-Japan Sister Cities Exchange Event. This gathering injected new momentum into bilateral relations at the people-to-people and subnational levels, with positive and far-reaching significance. Kansai has a long-standing tradition of exchanges with China and views China's development as an important opportunity. The region stands ready to take the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo as an opportunity to further strengthen economic, trade, and cultural exchanges with China and continue advancing Japan-China relations. Okayama will carry forward the friendly tradition and continue contributing to the bright future of the bilateral ties.