Many Chinese are also still bitter about Japan’s brutal occupation of much of China from 1931 to 1945, while many Japanese distrust Beijing’s assertion that its rise presents no economic or security threat.

Hu avoided harsh words on history and repeatedly stressed that he wanted to narrow differences and find common ground between the two biggest Asian economies. Chinese state media have lavished upbeat attention on Hu’s trip.

He also talked up the most substantive achievement of his visit — an announcement that the two sides were close to finding agreement over undersea gas in the East China Sea.

Beijing and Tokyo disagree over how to define their exclusive economic zones in the sea, which may hold hefty gas reserves.

On Friday evening, Hu met Toru Hashimoto, Governor of Osaka in western Japan.

Asked about the meeting, Hashimoto told reporters: “I heard the President’s thoughts, such as ‘you can choose a friend but you can’t choose a neighbor’ and ‘the mission of a politician is to search for a common benefit.’”

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