China-japan Dialogue

China and Japan agreed on

August 31 to step up financial cooperation amid rising economic headwinds and market vulnerabilities due to trade friction from U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist measures, top officials from both sides said.

As the top two Asian economies, “China and Japan have agreed to deepen regional fiscal and financial cooperation and maintain economic and financial stability” as they face growing threats from unilateralism and protectionism, Minister of Finance Liu Kun said at a news briefing in Beijing after the seventh China-japan Finance Dialogue.

Liu said that he held fruitful discussions with Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso that outlined clear steps for the next stage of cooperation between the two sides.

“We agreed to support multilateralism and maintain an open global economic stance against unilateralism and protectionism, and jointly maintain free trade and economic globalization under the framework of the G20 and 10+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea) multilateral mechanisms,” said Liu.

At the dialogue, delegates from both countries discussed several issues such as budget and public debt management and tax reforms. They agreed that fiscal policy plays an important role in coping with financial risks and supporting economic development.

This was also the first time that delegates from both countries’ central banks and financial regulatory institutions were in attendance, discussing financial cooperation in many areas. They reached several agreements on further opening up financial markets and enhancing bilateral financial regulatory cooperation.

Finance ministries of the two countries also jointly issued a research report on pension fund