Yokohama Chinatown Photo: VCG

In a recent exclusive interview with the Global Times, Niinami Takeshi, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, emphasized that a personal visit to China and firsthand experience of the current state of its economy and society are crucial to foster a good Japan-China relationship. This visit, which took place from November 3 to 5, marked the first time in eight years since 2016 that a delegation from the association was sent to China. 

During this trip, meaningful exchanges were held with the Chinese business community to discuss the future development of bilateral relations. The chairman shared the results of this visit with the Global Times, saying that "in addition to meetings with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and senior officials from Shanghai and China's Ministry of Commerce, we also took a look at advanced technologies in China and exchanged opinions with local business operators. For those business operators in the delegation, this is of great significance for them to understand the actual conditions of the Chinese society and economy."

Niinami expressed that he hopes to widely convey the insights gained from this trip to relevant individuals in the Japanese government and civil society. This visit to China is seen by him as a "new beginning" for Japan-China exchanges, and he plans to continue such visits in the future.

He noted that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, personnel exchanges between Japan and China had once come to a standstill, leading to a situation where many Japanese business operators felt hesitant to engage in commercial activities with China without having conducted on-site inspections. He explained, "I wanted to personally visit China with many business operators to change this situation by experiencing the actual conditions of the Chinese society and economy firsthand, and to take this as the first step in building a good Japanese-Chinese relationship."

The Japan Association of Corporate Executives is one of the "three major economic organizations" alongside the Japan Business Federation and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Niinami told the Global Times that the association is a group where business operators conduct activities independently as individuals. Therefore, it is not bound by the official views and interests of their affiliated companies or industries, allowing for open exchanges of opinions with Chinese counterparts.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba launched his second Cabinet on November 11. According to Japanese media reports, Japan hopes to comprehensively advance the strategic relationship of mutual benefit with China. Niinami told the Global Times that China and Japan are indispensable neighboring friends in economic terms. Both countries must further strengthen communication at both official and civil levels. At the same time, it is necessary to promote economic cooperation and personnel exchanges to make trade and investment mutually beneficial and more active.

According to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China-Japan high-level political dialogue mechanism was held in Beijing on November 4. The two sides believed that China and Japan, as two important neighbors with development closely linked to each other and highly complementary economies, should not and will not decouple, pledging to jointly promote the healthy development of economic and trade cooperation, and stable and smooth production and supply chain.