At the invitation of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), Mr. Hayashi Yoshimasa, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member of the House of Councilors in the Diet (national legislature) of Japan, leading a delegation of his LDP fellows in the Diet, visited Beijing and Jilin from December 19 to 23, 2011.
       Mr. Li Yuanchao, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, former State Councilor, Ms. Wu Xiaoling, Vice Chairwoman of the NPC Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, Mr. Lu Yongzheng, Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Youth League, Amb. Lu Shumin, Vice President of CPIFA, Mr. Jing Dunquan, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Mr. Ni Bangwen, Vice Chancellor of the China Youth University for Political Sciences (CYUPS), Mr. Huang Zhenchun, Deputy Director of the National Museum of China, Mr. Sun Zhengcai, Secretary of Jilin Provincial Party Committee, and Mr. Chen Weigen, Vice Governor of Jilin Province, met with or hosted welcoming banquets in honor of Mr. Hayashi respectively. The delegation also had a seminar with the experts and professors from the Northeast Asian Studies Center of Jilin University.
       Mr. Hayashi promised to continuously promote the friendly exchanges and cooperation between Japan and China to boost the strategic and mutually beneficial relations as well as enhance friendship between the two peoples. He also exchanged in-depth views with his Chinese counterparts on the political situation of Japan, China-Japan relations, regional situation and cooperation in Asia-Pacific region, as well as the debt crisis in Europe.