The statement is considered the fourth major text in the two countries' modern relations after a 1972 agreement to restore relations, a 1978 peace treaty and a document issued after a tense 1998 summit in Tokyo.

In the major points of the latest statement, the two countries agreed:

-- To start annual summits between the Japanese prime minister and Chinese president alternating between the two countries

-- To see each other not as threats but as cooperative partners that each have a role in the 21st century

-- To work together on fighting global warming. China voiced understanding for Japan's controversial proposal for a "sectoral" approach in which each industry improves its own energy-efficiency standards

-- To cooperate in ending North Korea's nuclear programmes and resolving a dispute over Pyongyang's kidnappings of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s

-- Japan reiterated its view that Beijing is the only legitimate government of China, not Taiwan

-- China hails Japan's "peaceful" role since World War II and its involvement in the United Nations, but stops short of supporting Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.