On October 19, 2025, President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolences to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba over the passing of former Japanese Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi. Xi Jinping expressed condolences over the passing of Murayama Tomiichi and extended sincere sympathies to his bereaved family.

Xi Jinping noted that Mr. Murayama Tomiichi was a Japanese statesman with a strong sense of justice and an old friend of the Chinese people, and he had long been committed to the cause of China-Japan friendship. In 1995, Murayama Tomiichi, as the then Japanese Prime Minister, delivered a formal statement on historical issues, acknowledging and making a profound reflection on Japan's history of aggressive wars and colonial rule, and expressing apologies to the victim countries. Xi Jinping said the spirit of the "Murayama Statement" should be upheld, and expressed the hope that Japan will work with China in the same direction, learn from history, look to the future, safeguard the political foundation of bilateral relations, and join hands to comprehensively advance the development of the China-Japan strategic relationship of mutual benefit.