BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on China and Japan to enhance party-to-party exchanges and cooperation.

Xi made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with a delegation led by Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Yoshihisa Inoue, secretary general of Komeito, LDP's ruling coalition partner.

Xi spoke highly of the role of China-Japan ruling party exchange mechanism in promoting bilateral relations, and hailed the efforts made by Nikai and Inoue to promote exchanges between the ruling parties of China and Japan, saying they have strengthened bilateral practical cooperation and friendship.

For their part, Nikai and Inoue said Japan's ruling coalition stands ready to enhance communication and exchange with the Communist Party of China (CPC) and make greater contributions to the development of Japan-China relations.

Earlier on Thursday, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also met with the Japanese delegation.

Noting that stable China-Japan ties serve the interests of both sides, Yang called on the two countries to increase political mutual trust and deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation for long-term development of bilateral relations.

"Both sides should make the best use of the ruling party exchange mechanism to push forward amelioration of China-Japan ties, and make joint efforts to promote peace and development in the region and the world," Yang said.

Echoing Yang, the Japanese side said the ruling party exchange mechanism has made important contributions to the development of relations between the two countries, and expressed its willingness to further deepen bilateral cooperation in various areas.

Representatives of the CPC and Japan's ruling coalition, formed by the LDP and Komeito, met in east China's Fujian Province from Dec 25 to 26 to convene the seventh meeting of the China-Japan ruling party exchange mechanism.