Abe, Li Agree to Evolve Japan-China Ties to New Level

October 26, 2018

Beijing- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed Friday to take their countries' improving relationship to a stage of more stable development.

"I want to propel Japan-China relations into a new era, from competition to collaboration," Abe said at the opening of his talks with Li at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. "I hope Japan and China will work on developing and evolving our free and fair trade relations."

Li said China's ties with Japan are showing the momentum of new development.

The premier also said he hopes the two countries will pursue a mutually beneficial relationship by continuously moving their ties forward and developing them stably on a long-term basis, always in a spirit of drawing lessons from history when facing the future.

The two met for the first time since May this year, when Li visited Tokyo for a three-way summit among Japan, China and South Korea.

Elsewhere in their latest talks, Abe and Li agreed to cooperate for the denuclearization of North Korea. They also exchanged opinions about trade friction between the United States and China.

Li told Abe that China plans to consider easing its restrictions on imports of Japanese agricultural products, which were introduced in the wake of the 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant.

In a joint press conference held after the talks, Abe said, "We confirmed the principle of being cooperative partners and not becoming threats to each other."

"I hope that inviting President Xi Jinping to Japan will add momentum to the promotion of bilateral friendship," Abe added.

Coinciding with the Abe-Li meeting, the Japanese and Chinese governments signed an accord on search and rescue operations over maritime accidents in waters around the two countries.

Although Tokyo and Beijing broadly agreed in December 2011 to ink the SAR agreement, it took time for them to move ahead with negotiations on the pact due to a deterioration in their relations.

The two countries also exchanged memorandums on a five-year youth exchange program involving 30,000 youngsters and the launch of bilateral dialogue for promoting cooperation in the field of innovation.

Abe briefed Li on Japan's plan to end official development assistance to China following the implementation of new projects for fiscal 2018. The two leaders agreed to create a framework of bilateral dialogue aimed at assisting developing countries on an equal footing.

Ahead of the talks with Li, Abe met with the Chinese Communist Party's third-ranked official, Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

On Friday afternoon, the Japanese prime minister was also scheduled to hold talks with Xi. Jiji Press