Fruitful season for bilateral relations

It is the time of year when grass turns green and flowers bloom - and spring might also be in the air for a Sino-Japanese relationship that has had some stormy times over the past few years.

"At the historic moment of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan is significant to both countries, and the statesmen and business people in Japan are fully aware of that," Hideto Nakahara, chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in China told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"For the Japanese economic community, we really hope this visit can further promote already-close Sino-Japanese economic and trade cooperation."

Sino-Japanese relations have made great progress, as illustrated by official statistics that show China became the biggest trade partner of Japan last year, while Japan is now China's third-largest trade partner, second-largest source of overseas investment and largest source of imports into the nation.

"The trade volume between our two countries reached over $60 billion in the first quarter this year, increasing 14 percent year-on-year," Nakahara said, expressing his strong confidence on trade prospects.

While recent predictions said Sino-Japanese trade ties could cool after Japanese direct investment decreased by 20 percent over the past two years, the chairman noted "Japan remains the second-biggest foreign country to invest in China, although it showed a little drop in the figures".

The slight decline, Nakahara said, is partly due to a decrease of Japanese investment in large projects, such as in China's manufacturing sector.

Yet previous Japanese investments in China have begun to bear fruit. Japan currently ranks No 1 in cumulative overseas investment in China, which has surpassed $60 billion, Nakahara said.

"Most of the profit, which didn't go back to Japan but reinvested in China, was not included into the statistics," he said.

"In the long run, I believe economic ties between Japan and China will gain momentum in both trade volume and investment."

Co-op on energy saving

To reach sustainable development, China has curbed industries with high energy consumption and heavy pollution, instead placing more importance on those with high technology, more efficient energy use and higher added value.

Japan is also emphasizing the development of those industries - saving energy and environmental protection tend to be the key words in the bilateral cooperation. The chairman said Japan and China have cooperated in those fields since 2006.

Two sessions of the Forum on China-Japan Energy Saving and Environment Protection were held in 2006 and 2007 in Tokyo and Beijing respectively.

Japan will host the G8 summit in July, at which the climate issue is likely to be one of the main topics. Nakahara said he hopes China and Japan will have more dialog and cooperation as the world makes moves to address global warming.

Social commitment

The JCCI, a union of Japanese enterprises doing business in or with China, encourages its members to fulfill their social responsibilities in addition to helping them adapt to the Chinese business environment.

JCCI and the China-Japan Friendship Association jointly carried out a program last year to "observe Japan by visiting Japanese corporations", a five-year effort initiated by JCCI to help acquaint Chinese students with Japan.

Sixty Chinese college students in the program visited Japanese corporations last year and conducted field studies in the countryside, lived in local homes and built friendships with their peers in Japan.

Fully sponsored by the member corporations of JCCI, the program is expected to send about 300 Chinese college students to visit Japan by 2011.

"Communication and exchanges at the grassroots level are as important as those between top government officials," he said, adding that it is the youth who will shoulder the future.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening up policy. Nakahara, who is also Mitsubishi Corp's chief representative for China, said he is impressed with the changes China had undergone.

"Given its opening up and rapid economic development, China is improving the investment climate and economic system. For overseas enterprises, how to adapt to the rapid development is also of importance," he said.

The chairman also expressed his optimism about future China-Japan economic and trade relations. "Problems and friction, if there are any, can all get resolved through concerted efforts by both our countries. I believe Sino-Japanese economic and trade relations are bound to be promising," he added.

(China Daily 05/08/2008 page15)