Ties with Japan important

Chinese public has increasingly harbored a global and widerdiplomatic perspective in their view of relations with Japan

As China's economic and strategic influences continue to rise on the international stage, Chinese people have become increasingly confident of their country's ability to manage ties with Japan, and have become more open-minded in viewing Japan's World War II history.

The number of Chinese people holding a good opinion of Japan has been on the increase since Junichiro Koizumi stepped down as Japanese prime minister in Sept 2006, according to a survey jointly organized by the China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese non-political organization, ahead of their annual co-sponsored "Beijing-Tokyo" Forum.