On July 14, 2023 local time, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Jakarta at the latter's request.

Wang Yi said that China and Japan signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship 45 years ago, which stipulated in law that China and Japan should adhere to peace, friendship and cooperation, setting timeless and everlasting principles and direction for bilateral exchanges. The two sides should take the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty as an opportunity, take history as a mirror, look forward to the future, act on the original aspiration, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, and work together to build a China-Japan relationship that meets the needs of the new era.

Wang Yi said that China-Japan relations are now at a critical phase regarding where to go from here. China-Japan relations have to press forward, or they will slide backward. Japan's moves that position China as the greatest strategic challenge and hype up the "China threat" are seriously inconsistent with the reality of China-Japan relations and run counter to the important consensus of "being cooperative partners rather than threats to each other". Wang Yi expressed the hope that Japan will establish an objective and rational understanding of China, draw lessons from history through concrete actions, adhere to the path of peaceful development, improve the relationship between the two peoples, and bring China-Japan relations back to the track of sound and stable development. China is open to maintaining contacts at all levels, economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people and cultural interactions.

Yoshimasa Hayashi said that there is huge potential for Japan-China cooperation in a wide range of areas. The Japanese side welcomes the close exchanges between the two sides in recent periods and hopes to further strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges. The Japanese side attaches great importance to strengthening dialogue and communication with China, and looks forward to taking the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship as an opportunity and following the guidance of the common understandings between the leaders of the two countries to build constructive and stable Japan-China relations and create conditions for high-level exchanges between the two sides.

Yoshimasa Hayashi explained Japan's thinking on the issue of discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, expecting China to understand. Wang Yi stressed that the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from Japan into the ocean bears on the safety of the marine environment and the health of human lives. Nuclear-contaminated water from nuclear accidents should not be compared to the wastewater from normal operating nuclear power plants as they are completely different in nature. There is no precedent nor commonly accepted standard concerning the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. It is a scientific matter and a question of attitude as well. The Japanese side should face up to other parties' legitimate concerns and different opinions from experts, scientifically verify different discharge approaches, fully communicate with its neighbors with a sincere attitude, and handle the matter prudently not stubbornly.