Despite their relations having been strained by their territorial dispute and wartime issues, China and Japan have by and large managed to successfully steer their relations onto firmer ground over the past couple of years.

Hence, it is no surprise that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and visiting State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi struck an upbeat note when they met in Tokyo on Wednesday, with the two sides vowing to properly handle their divergences and strengthen their pragmatic cooperation.

This came after Wang and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met the day before and reached consensuses on a number of issues of common concern that will help lay a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation both during and after the pandemic.

Given the novel coronavirus is still running rampant in much of the world, cooperation between the two neighbors, including exchanging information in a timely manner and carrying out medical cooperation, will help safeguard the health of the two peoples and contribute to regional and international efforts to curb the pandemic.

The two sides have also agreed to support each other in hosting the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games and the Beijing Winter Olympics, kick start a high-level consultation mechanism on people-to-people exchanges and hold a new round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs next month. Such arrangements will help build more mutual trust and anchor bilateral ties on more solid terrain.

Tokyo's close relations with Washington and its choosing to join the US in its efforts to contain China and its ambition to secure a higher profile for the country on the world stage by securing a bigger role for its self-defense forces in regional and international affairs have the potential to set back ties again.

Notwithstanding this, the two neighbors have made resolute efforts to bring their relations back onto the normal track in the past few years after they had soured dramatically. Wang's visit is the latest and an important part of those endeavors.

Earlier this month, China and Japan joined the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialogue partners, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand in signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, which creates the world's largest free trade area. This once again highlights that their mutual interests outweigh their differences.

Healthy China-Japan ties cater to the interests of both sides as well as those of the region at large, and the two sides should continue to make every effort to boost the positive momentum in their relations