Constructive Track

The fledgling thirdparty market cooperation between China and Japan boosts bilateral relations

The author is a professor of Japan studies at China Foreign Affairs University

Some cooperative projects in third-party markets have proceeded smoothly. China’s Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co. Ltd. and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. have already worked with local Kazakhstan companies and signed a general contract for an equipment construction project worth $1.68 billion.

China CITIC Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s Itochu Corp. jointly participated in an offshore wind power project in Germany, which will deliver electricity to 370,000 German families. While in Oman, Japan’s Mitsui & Co. Ltd. is involved in three major natural gas-fired power projects, with China’s Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp. III its core EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor.

More third-party market cooperation between the two countries is expected in fields such as energy, high-speed railway, environmental protection, urban planning, elderly care, healthcare, medicine and pharmaceuticals, and culture.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said the Chinese and Japanese governments should innovate an open and mutually beneficial model of cooperation, and integrate the role of businesses, the market and government in exploring priority areas of cooperation. They should also build more platforms for trade promotion and develop cross-border e-commerce and other new business models. The establishment of longterm support and facilitation mechanisms is also much needed. According to Zhong, the two countries should give full credence to the role of economic groups and trade promotion agencies, build an informationsharing platform and a training mechanism, and facilitate collaboration between enterprises through organizing trade fairs and joint exhibitions.

Zhong’s proposals can be regarded as the priorities for China and Japan in the initial stage of third-party market cooperation. If positive progress can be made, the cooperation will expand to more spheres and become self-powered.

Difficulties remain

At this primary stage, the cooperation still faces difficulties that need to be overcome with concerted efforts.

Pragmatic cooperation is welcome, while vicious competition needs to be avoided. Against the backdrop of globalization and the wider market economy, all countries and markets are part of the competition to some extent, owing to market rules. But vicious competition will result in failures for the parties involved. Both China and Japan have indicated that they have realized the seriousness of this.

The cooperation between Chinese and Japanese enterprises shows that there has been