At the reception, a Japanese foreign ministry official read the congratulatory message sent by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty was signed on this very day 30 years ago, when his father Takeo Fukuda was Japan's prime minister, Fukuda said in the message.

Japan and China have tided over hardships and difficulties over the past 30 years, the message read, adding that as the two neighbors are now constructing a new type of friendly relations, the commemorative stamps are sure to draw vast attention from the people of both countries.

Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai, for his part, said that in a world threatened by the cold war in the 1970s, the treaty was signed to establish by law an enduring relation of peace and friendship between the two nations.

The pact represented the strong aspiration of the two peoples for peace and friendship and embodied the political wisdom and courage of the leaders of both countries, he added.

The treaty ushered in a new era for the Japan-China relations as well as the Asian history, Cui said.

On Aug. 12, 1978, the foreign ministers of the two countries signed in Beijing the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which stipulates, among others, the contracting parties shall develop durable relations of peace and friendship between the two countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-Existence and "the present Treaty shall not affect the position of either Contracting Party regarding its relations with a third country."