China and Japan agreed to step up financial cooperation amid rising economic headwinds and market vulnerabilities due to trade friction from US President Donald Trump’s protectionist measures, top officials from both sides said.
As the top two Asian economies, “China and Japan have agreed to deepen regional fiscal and financial cooperation and maintain economic and financial stability” as they face growing threats from unilateralism and protectionism, Minister of Finance Liu Kun said at a news briefing in Beijing after the seventh China-Japan finance ministers’ dialogue.
Liu said he and Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso held healthy and fruitful discussions that outlined clear steps for the next stage of cooperation between the two sides.
“We agreed to support multilateralism and maintain an open global economic stance against unilateralism and protectionism, and jointly maintain free trade and economic globalization under the framework of G20 and 10+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) multilateral mechanisms,” said Liu, adding that the eighth round of China-Japan finance ministers’ dialogue would be held in Japan next year.
At the meetings, delegates from both countries discussed several issues such as budget and public debt management, and tax reforms. They agreed that fiscal policy plays an important role in coping with financial risks and supporting economic development.
This was also the first time that delegates from both countries’ central banks and financial regulatory institutions joined the talk and discussed financial cooperation in broad areas. They have reached several agreements on further opening-up financial markets and enhancing bilateral financial regulatory cooperation.
On Aug 31, the finance ministries of the two countries jointly issued a research report on pension fund reform, and decided to continually study important issues together in the future.