A massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami wreaked havoc on northeastern Japan on Friday, leaving at least dozens of people killed and the whole world shocked.

Forests of buildings were toppled, stretches of roads were ripped apart and tracts of crops were swept away by the twin punches of the magnitude 8.8 temblor and the meters-tall waves.

From just across a narrow strip of water, the Chinese people sympathize deeply with the Japanese in this monstrous natural disaster, with Beijing having already expressed willingness to offer help.

In the face of overwhelming natural calamities, human bodies may be weak, but human souls are strong. In this global village, a disaster inflicted on any segment of the world population is a mobilization order to the entire international community.

With assistance streaming into Japan from China and other nations, the Japanese government and people will not be alone in dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophe.

Many Chinese still remember that after a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck China's Sichuan province in 2008, Japanese rescuers offered valuable help, ordinary Japanese people lined up to make donations, and even some mayors and municipal legislators took to the streets to solicit contributions.

The willingness and readiness to help each other is just a natural reflection of the time-honored friendly bond between the two neighboring Oriental civilizations. The virtue of returning the favor after receiving one runs in the bloods of both nations.

Today, with the whole world endeavoring together to counter climate change, it is also of increasing urgency and necessity for China and Japan to boost cooperation in environmental protection, disaster prevention and relief and post-disaster reconstruction.

Japan boasts a strong public awareness of disaster prevention and an effective package of disaster relief measures. Thanks to that, the Japanese government and people already have begun rescue and relief efforts in an orderly way. Such valuable experiences are worth learning from by China and other countries.