Listen to people’s voice on Sino-Japanese ties

A public opinion survey on China-Japan relations, conducted by the China International Communications Group and Japanese think tank Genron NPO, and released on Wednesday, shows there is a broad consensus among Chinese respondents on the importance of ChinaJapan relations. According to the poll, the 18th of its kind conducted since 2005, 71.3 percent of Chinese respondents consider Sino-Japanese relations “important” or “relatively important”.

They particularly recognized the important role economic factors play in ties between the two countries. At least 77.4 percent of Chinese respondents said they believe China-Japan economic cooperation is still important to China’s future, up 2 percentage points from 2021, 75.2 percent believed bilateral ties have “strong complementarity that can realize win-win cooperation”, up 3.6 percentage points from 2021, and 70.3 percent believed the total trade volume between the two countries will continue to increase.

Chinese respondents also believe that the development of bilateral relations over the past 50 years has not met expectations and that efforts should be made to strengthen China-Japan cooperation with the theme of peaceful development. They felt historical issues, territorial disputes and Japan-United States alliance are factors affecting Chinese respondents’ perception of Sino-Japanese relations.

The 50th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic ties between China and Japan should offer the two countries an opportunity to tide over adverse factors and difficulties and improve bilateral relations. Despite historical issues and territorial disputes, Chinese respondents still have high expectations for the two countries to carry out cooperation in various fields and jointly deal with global issues.

Also, the US has proved to be the largest external factor affecting the China-Japan relations over the past year, but 71.3 percent of Chinese respondents believe the two neighbors should make greater efforts to reduce the impact of the Sino-US games on their ties.

China and Japan have not only close geographical proximity and close cultural ties, but are also important members of the international community that should shoulder shared responsibilities on many regional and international issues. China-Japan relations are not destined to be smooth sailing, but as long as the two countries learn from history, follow the call of the times and their people, and firmly adhere to the right direction of peace, friendship and cooperation, they will certainly create a bright future for bilateral ties in the new era.