Trade war ‘pushes rivals China and Japan closer’ – on imports, talks and overseas infrastructure

China is expected to team up with Japan on infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia, a sign that Beijing’s escalating trade war with Washington is pushing the two Asian rivals closer, according to diplomatic observers and sources.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to visit Beijing next month, where the agenda is expected to include cooperation on agriculture, innovation and infrastructure projects in other countries, particularly along Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, according to sources familiar with Japan-China relations.

The two nations have long had a strained relationship, with historical animosities stemming from Japan’s wartime occupation of China and an ongoing territorial dispute over a group of islets in the East China Sea, called the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyus by China.

As Washington turns up the trade war heat on China, however, Beijing and Tokyo have been warming to each other, most notably with the resumption of high-level dialogue.

In May, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Tokyo, the first such trip by a Chinese premier in eight years. Late last month, high-level Japanese delegations travelled to Beijing, where Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, met Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan.

Abe’s trip, the first to the Chinese capital by a Japanese prime minister since 2011, is likely to take place around October 23 – the 40th anniversary of the China-Japan treaty of peace and friendship taking effect – and would involve a Japanese delegation of 500 people from a range of business sectors, the source said.

“The trade war with the US has provided more incentives for China to improve relations with Japan,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to disclose details of the visit.