Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry

China and Japan have seen a commendable result in bilateral trade, with dialogue and exchanges in place in varied sectors in the first half of this year, despite the pandemic, the spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

This came after a video conference between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, where they exchanged in-depth views with each other on China-Japan relations in various fields, reaching a positive consensus.

Despite the serious challenges posed by the COVID-19 epidemic, thanks to the joint efforts of China and Japan, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has produced an impressive record, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference on Thursday.

In the first half of this year, bilateral trade reached nearly $150 billion and Japanese investment in China reached about $2 billion, basically the same level as in the same period last year.

Under the current situation, such an outcome should be considered very commendable, said Wang, noting that it fully demonstrates that China-Japan relations enjoy deep foundations, strong resilience and huge potential.

The two sides agreed to maintain closer communication and coordination to further facilitate the resumption of normal exchanges between their personnel, which will also help the two sides to resume work and production, maintain the stable operation of the industrial and supply chains and promote regional economic recovery, said Wang.

Wang said that in the post-COVID-19 era, China and Japan should work together to maintain the right direction of bilateral relations, strengthen cooperation in fighting the epidemic, promoting economic recovery and maintaining regional peace and stability, while jointly responding to various international and regional challenges and injecting new vitality into the development of bilateral relations.