China, Japan should cooperate more on B&R initiative: expert

China and Japan should cooperate more in economics and trade based on the Belt and Road initiative amid escalating trade friction between China and the US, Chinese observers said on Thursday after it was announced that Sino-Japanese high-level economic dialogue will reopen later this month following an eight-year hiatus.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Japan Sunday and co-chair the fourth high-level economic dialogue between China and Japan with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The dialogue will be held on Monday in Tokyo, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.

The dialogue is the highestlevel economic cooperation mechanism between the two countries. The previous meetings were held in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

Trade cooperation between China and Japan rebounded in 2017, as bilateral trade surged over 10 percent to total $300 billion, according to an article posted on the ministry’s official WeChat account on Wednesday.

By February, Japan had invested in and founded 51,000 companies in China at an actual utilized value of $108.8 billion.

Many Japanese investments received a good return in China and Japanese continue to make China their first choice for overseas investment, the article read.

“Dialogue can be reopened thanks to improved Sino-Japanese ties as China has been more influential in the world community and Japan has recognized the value of China’s Belt and Road initiative,” Wang Pin, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

In June last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japan was ready to cooperate with China on the Belt and Road initiative under certain conditions.

“In investing in countries along the Belt and Road initiative, China could cooperate with Japan and learn from Japan’s experience in international finance,” Wang said.

“Considering the current trade friction between China and the US, it is more important Asian countries cooperate and support each other.”

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in March that he will consider paying an official visit to Japan while attending the China-Japan-South Korea leaders’ meeting in the first half of this year, according to the Xinhua report.

After the dialogue, Li’s visit to Japan and cooperation among relevant social groups, more top-level exchange visits can also be expected by the two countries, Wang said.