Japan Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, met in China to discuss youth exchanges and economic relations following their completely recovered ties last year. Kono said that China and Japan have the opportunity to lead the economic field during the time of worldwide uncertainty. The trade pressure from the United States causes the Asian nations to find new alternative markets.
In recent years, China and Japan's relations was turbulent because of the unresolved territorial disputes over the island in the East China Sea. The trade between the two nations was suspended in 2012 after Japan nationalized the small group of islands claimed by China. The Chinese protested against Japan and it sent Japanese investment and tourism away from China.
During the conflict, investors from both sides considered joint projects in other Asian nations like Thailand. According to Mr. Wang, Sino-Japanese economic cooperation is constantly advancing at a solid pace while the current economic situation is complicated and profoundly changing.
A week ago, China and the United States announced that they achieved new progress in talks in their aim to end the tariff standoff over China's industrial and technology policies which shaken the global financial markets. The conclusion of the continuing trade friction remains uncertain.
Japan's export is also suffering because of the slowing global economic growth and the trade friction between China and the United States. China is the biggest trading partner of Japan and Japanese companies play a significant role in China's economy.
Recently, United States President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from Japan which greatly threatened automobile tariffs leaving Japan. The Japanese Foreign minister announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Japan this year. Last fall, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited China. It is the official visit by a Japanese leader to China in nearly seven years.
Mr. Wang said that economic cooperation between China and Japan is continuously progressing and having a profound impact on the world. He added that they should exchange wisdom for the peaceful and stable development of the region and the world.
According to Mr. Kono, it goes without saying it's important that the second- and third-largest economies in the world hold constructive discussions on economic ties.
The dialogue between China and Japan took place about two months before the scheduled visit of the Chinese president as he attends this year's summit of Group of 20 major economies in Osaka.
