Biggies in business
Asian giants China and Japan sign 500 business deals to the tune of US$18bil.
BEIJING: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a second meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during the first formal visit to Beijing by a Japanese leader in nearly seven years that heralds warming ties following years of acrimony.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Li said 500 business agreements worth US$18bil (RM75bil) had been signed between Chinese and Japanese companies during the visit, displaying the “bright future” for cooperation between the sides.
Abe, who has been accompanied by a 500-strong business delegation, expressed hopes for closer ties and a shift in relations from an age of “competition to cooperation”, an apparent reference to rifts that until recently have muted Japanese business interests in China.
Abe was due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later yesterday, possibly cementing the steady recovery in relations that hit a low in 2012 amid a dispute over East China Sea islands.
However, for now at least, the sides appear to have drawn closer by economic necessity brought about partly by President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs on imports.
Asia’s largest economies are seeking to deepen trade, investment and cooperation on infrastructure and other projects in third countries.
China is Japan’s largest trading partner and economic ties have remained strong despite political differences.