BEIJING, July 16 -- Senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Yunshan on Wednesday met with a delegation from Japan's largest opposition group, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), urging Japan to take history lessons and seek a peaceful path.

Liu, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said strained bilateral ties do not work for the fundamental interests of the two nations.

"We expect Japan to take history lessons, follow the tides of the time and seek peaceful development," Liu told DPJ leader Banri Kaieda, who is leading a 10-person delegation to Beijing.

Relations between China and Japan soured following the Japanese government's "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands in September 2012.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit last year to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors WWII war criminals, erected another political obstacle to the strained relations. The visit was the first by a serving Japanese prime minister since 2006.

Stressing China's consistent position of developing ties with Japan on the basis of the four political documents signed by the two countries, Liu reaffirmed the principle of "taking history as a mirror and looking to the future."

The CPC would like to work with the DPJ and other ruling or opposition parties to increase exchanges and cooperation, enhance political trust and mend China-Japan ties, Liu said.

Banri Kaieda said the DPJ would like to seek candid dialogue, intensify party-to-party and youth exchanges, and remove the obstacles between the two countries.

Kaieda arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day visit.

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