Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei (at right) and Japanese counterpart, deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso (left) during the talks held in Beijing on June 6. (Photo : www.asia.nikkei.com)
China and Japan held their Fifth China-Japan Finance Dialogue in Beijing to discuss issues such as infrastructure cooperation in Asia and challenges in the global economy, according to a joint statement released on June 6 after the meeting.
Experts said that the meeting between Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and Taro Aso, his Japanese counterpart and also Japan's deputy prime minister, is a sign of warming relations between the two countries.
The Xinhua News Agency reported that the ministers held the common view that the dialogue would be significant for both countries, as the exchange of macroeconomic and policy measures would deepen the economic ties between the two countries.
According to the statement, the two countries have expressed concerns about the risks in volatile commodity prices and the economic policy of major developed economies and both agreed that the global economy is in a period of intense structural adjustment.
The report said that the fifth dialogue was originally set in China in 2013, but the meeting was postponed due to strained bilateral relation concerning territorial and historical disputes.
Strained relations between the two countries have caused the decline in bilateral trade in recent years.
Data from China's General Administration of Customs showed that China's trade with Japan fell by 11 percent year-on-year to 554.7 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year.
Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that a tighter bilateral cooperation is crucial for the two countries, especially for Japan. He added that economic cooperation would also depend on the political relations between the two countries.
"It is still uncertain whether [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's] 'Abenomics' can provide long-term power for the recovery of Japan's economy. Japan needs to find new driving forces for its recovery," Bai told the Global Times on Sunday.
The two finance ministers stressed the need to improve communication and vowed to support cooperation in trade and investment. They also agreed to promote infrastructure development in Asia by coordinating with financial institutions.
According to the joint statement, the two countries have agreed to hold the Sixth China-Japan Finance Dialogue in Tokyo next year.
