China tells Japanese delegation two giants could complement each other in the modern economy, despite differences

Name: Xi and Kishida reaffirm Japan-China strategic relations in rare leader talks after Apec summit
Uploaded: 2024-01-17T07:59:00.000Z
Duration: 3 min 11 s
Description: Xi and Kishida reaffirm Japan-China strategic relations in rare leader talks after Apec summit

Beijing and Tokyo foreign affairs officials meet as relations strained by differences on Taiwan and Japan’s decision to release Fukushima water

Political chill and a slow economic recovery in China spark concerns of a spillover effect on bilateral economic ties

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On Friday, a delegation from Japan’s foreign ministry met Chinese officials led by Liu Jinsong, director general of the foreign ministry’s Asian affairs department, who said their countries have common interests and space for cooperation. Photo: Reuters

Laura Zhou

Published: 3:59pm, 17 Jan 2024Updated: 4:35pm, 17 Jan 2024

China and Japan could complement each other in economic modernisation despite their differences, a senior Beijing official told a visiting Japanese delegation, as relations have been strained over a series of diplomatic disputes, from Taiwan to the Fukushima waste water discharge.

In his meeting with a delegation from the Japanese foreign ministry, Liu Jinsong, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s Asian affairs department, reiterated Beijing’s policy on Taiwan, an issue he said no country should intervene in.

The meeting was held on Friday, a day before the Taiwan presidential election, but was not made public until late on Tuesday night.

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Xi and Kishida reaffirm Japan-China strategic relations in rare leader talks after Apec summit

During the meeting, Liu tried to strike a conciliatory tone on bilateral ties between China and Japan, which he said “have a lot of contradictions and differences, but also have common interests and space for cooperation”, according to the Chinese readout.

Bilateral ties should “not be confined to a single issue”, and the two sides should work together to address global challenges such as climate change, “and inject more stability and certainty into a world in turmoil”, he told delegation leader Sotaro Ozaki, director of the Japanese ministry’s international economy division.

“China and Japan can learn from each other and complement each other’s achievements in each other’s modernisation process,” he said.

Liu Jinsong, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s department of Asian affairs. Photo: Weibo

“And both sides should work together to oppose … unilateralism and ‘small yard, high fence’,” Liu said, referring to the term used by US officials to describe the strategy to impede China’s advances in critical technology while limiting wider economic repercussions.