On October 16, 2025, President Yang Wanming of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) met in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, with Shinji Hirai, Governor of Tottori Prefecture, Japan, who was in China to attend the 26th China-Japan-ROK Friendship Cities Exchange Conference.
President Yang extended a warm welcome to Governor Shinji Hirai and his delegation to the conference. He noted that Tottori Prefecture enjoys a strong foundation for exchanges with China, and that Governor Shinji Hirai has long been committed to fostering friendly relations and promoting practical cooperation with China, yielding fruitful results across various fields. President Yang emphasized that China-Japan relations are currently at a crucial stage of improvement and development. He expressed the hope that Tottori Prefecture will remain true to the original aspiration of China-Japan friendship, further advance practical cooperation with China, and strengthen mutual understanding and goodwill between the peoples of two countries, setting a model for bilateral subnational cooperation.
Governor Shinji Hirai thanked the CPAFFC for its active contribution to the successful organization of the conference. He said the event provided an important platform for subnational governments of the three countries to share experiences and jointly address challenges, playing a constructive role in deepening trilateral subnational governments' cooperation and advancing trilateral relations. Governor Shinji Hirai expressed his willingness to further expand exchanges and cooperation with subnational governments in China in such areas as the economy, culture, and youth, contributing to the sound and steady development of Japan-China relations.
Zhu Dan, Director-General of the Department of East Asian Affairs of the CPAFFC, was present at the meeting.
