Niwa says China, Japan like ‘married couple’  

日本驻华大使离任回国 称期待面向未来日中关系

日本驻华大使丹羽宇一郎28日结束任期，返回日本。他在离任感言中表示，拥有数千年交流历史的日中两国虽然关系时好时坏，但互为重要邻邦，要长久地相处下去，期待面向未来的日中关系。

Beijing (CNS) -- Retired Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa on Wednesday said that China and Japan are important neighbors and that he expects a forward-looking Sino-Japan relationship.

At his final news conference before returning to Japan on 26 November, Niwa said that China and Japan are closer than a married couple.

Niwa has made efforts to promote economic cooperation and non-governmental communication between the two countries, said Yang Bojiang, director of Japanese Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

But he is not a career diplomat, Yang said, adding that Niwa wasn't in accordance with the Japanese government in security and political matters, which had caused discontent in the Japanese conservative camp.

Appointed in 2010, Niwa was the first Japanese ambassador to China from the private sector. He is succeeded by Masato Kitera, a former assistant chief cabinet secretary.

Niwa opposed Japan's illegal "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands in June this year and said it would cause a grave crisis in relations between the two countries.