On November 9, the 14th Consultation on China-Japan Economic Partnership at vice-ministerial level meeting was held via video link in Beijing. The meeting, co-chaired by Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Hiroshi Suzuki, was the first meeting since the outbreak of COVID-19 under the interagency commercial cooperation mechanism between the governments of China and Japan. The two sides exchanged views and reached broad consensus on such issues as the pandemic-hit macro-economic climate, China-Japan bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and multilateral and regional cooperation.

Assistant Minister Li said that China’s economic prospect featuring long-term steady growth remains unchanged. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed the recommendations for the 14th five-year plan and the long-range objectives for 2035, drawing up a clearer blueprint for the country’s long-term development and creating new opportunities of common development for the world. China-Japan relations have kept improving under the guidance of our leaders. The two countries support and help each other to fight the virus. Our trade and economic cooperation has shown strong resilience as we have supported businesses in resuming work and commercial exchanges, and made headways in our cooperation in anti-epidemic efforts, services trade, e-commerce, third-party markets and cooperation at local levels. Japanese companies took active part in the third China International Import Expo, and ranked among the top in terms of the number of exhibitors and exhibition areas. The two sides need to fully leverage the China-Japan High-level Economic Dialogue and China-Japan Economic Partnership Consultation and other mechanisms to strengthen policy coordination, maintain stability and resilience of industrial and supply chains, safeguard the multilateral trading system with the WTO as its core, complete the signing of RCEP within this year, so as to advance economic recovery and development of the region and the world at large.

Senior Deputy Minister Hiroshi Suzuki said that the two countries’ cooperation in combating COVID-19 has laid a sound foundation for advancing friendly cooperation and commercial relations in the future. Sustained efforts should be made to jointly tackle the impacts of the pandemic. The Japanese economy has gradually emerged from the shocks of COVID-19. The new cabinet is making all-out efforts towards the economic strategy in the “post-pandemic era” through resuming consumption, developing digital economy and building a green society. The two sides need to strive to broaden people-to-people exchanges and deepen cooperation in medical health, energy conservation, eco-protection, transportation and logistics, step up international coordination, and promote economic development of the two countries and the world.

The meeting was also attended by Chinese representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Development Reform Commission, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Health Commission, General Administration of Customs and Chinese Embassy in Japan, and by Japanese representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Japanese Embassy in China.