Premier Li Keqiang said China will firmly push forward opening-up and reform, and conduct pragmatic cooperation with Japan in all fields, particularly in innovation for more ground-breaking results.
He made the remarks while meeting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and some cabinet officials at the fifth China-Japan High-level Economic Dialogue on April 15 in Beijing. The dialogue was resumed in April after being suspended for eight years.
The dialogue in a blossoming spring will not only promote the ongoing development of China-Japan relations on the right track, but also contribute to more solid cooperation results between the two sides, Premier Li said.
China and Japan, Premier Li stressed, should manage and solve disputes with consensus and wisdom based on the four political documents, and guide people from both sides, particularly teenagers, to work for better bilateral ties.
Taro Kono said last year, the exchange visits between the prime ministers of the two nations had brought bilateral relations back to the normal track.
While extending his appreciation to Premier Li’s efforts in the process, he also said economic cooperation is an important force to drive relations between the two sides, both of which agreed that they should resume cooperation in all fields in the dialogue.
Premier Li said facing the complicated economic situation, China and Japan, as neighbors and major economies, should further deepen economic cooperation, which will serve people from both sides, and promote regional and global peace and stability while addressing a slowing world economy.
Other cabinet officials from the Japanese side expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with China in World Trade Organization reform, collaboration in third-party markets, innovation, environmental protection, and finance.
“China and Japan both safeguard free trade, and are making economic and trade cooperation by abiding by free trade principles based on WTO rules,” Premier Li said. “So we should build a fair and equal business environment without discrimination for each other’s enterprises. China is willing to strengthen coordination with Japan concerning issues, including global governance, especially WTO reform.”
China is ready to further explore the third-party market with the Japanese side, Premier Li said. At different development phases and highly complementary of each other, the two countries will create strong competitiveness by tapping their advantages in this field, he added.
The Premier also expressed his expectation that both sides could enhance cooperation in more fields, especially in innovation and environmental protection, which are of great importance for China’s ongoing economic transformation.
Premier Li discussed the Japan-China Innovative Cooperation Mechanism with Prime Minister Abe during his visit to Japan last year, and both sides held their first dialogue, Taro Kono said. A mutual benefit and collaboration relationship that conforms to the new era should be created, based on free, open and equal rules.
Deepened economic cooperation will provide more convenience in financing for industrial cooperation of both sides, thus further promoting economic and trade cooperation, the Premier said.
China also is willing to jointly promote negotiations on the China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Agreement and the RCEP, to create bigger opportunities for development of the region, Premier Li said. He added that China is supportive of Japan in hosting the G20 Osaka Summit, and ready to promote global economic governance reform, thus injecting new impetus into world economic development.
Premier Li urged related parties to put all these into practice soon.
