Japan’s business circle counts on FM’s visit

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Japan on Sunday is a significant reset of bilateral relations and will pave the way for the proposed China-Japan-South Korea summit, said a Chinese observer.

“I hope this will be an important step toward returning China-Japan relations to a normal track,” Wang, also a Chinese State Councilor, told reporters after arriving in Japan on Sunday, reported Japan’s Kyodo News Agency.

Wang will co-chair the fourth high-level economic dialogue between China and Japan with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said last week.

“Wang’s visit will be a significant reset of China-Japan relations and will pave the way for the upcoming China-Japan-South Korea summit and also Premier Li Keqiang’s possible visit to Japan,” Lü Yaodong, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ institute of Japanese studies, told the Global Times.

Business-people in Japan have urged the government to tighten cooperation with China as the Japanese economy entered long-term stagnation in 2016, Lü noted.

Japan has seen exports to China increase 20.5 percent and imports up 8.5 percent in 2017, according to data released on March 13 by the Japanese ministry of finance.

The China-Japan bilateral relationship has shown signs of a thaw. Premier Li said in March that he will consider visiting Japan while attending the China-Japan-South Korea summit in the first half of the year.

The meeting will give Japan an opportunity to play a significant part in the Korean Peninsula issue and Japan also needs to balance its relations with the US and China instead of siding with the US and following its steps, Lü said.

Atsushi Kouketsu, a professor of Yamaguchi University, said improving China-Japan relations are indispensable for the stability and prosperity of Asia. It is in the interests of the people of both countries as well as the region, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan.