For Healthy and Stable China-Japan Relations

On October 24 and 25， 2015， the 11th Beijing-Tokyo Forum， jointly organized by China International Publishing Group （CIPG） and Japan’s Genron NPO， was held in Beijing. More than 500 senior government officials， diplomats and delegates from politics， economics， academics and media of both countries gathered to discuss various topics under the forum’s theme “Difficulties and Measures： How to Develop Long-term Healthy， Stable China-Japan Relations – East Asia’s Future and Roles to Be Played by Both Countries.”

The forum took place amidst the signs of the ties between China and Japan appearing to rebound from the worst-ever tension since late 2012 when Japan unilaterally nationalized the Diaoyu Islands.

In November 2014， Chinese President Xi Jinping met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit， which was seen as a thawing of the chill in Sino-Japanese ties. The same month， the two countries reached a four-point agreement for improving bilateral ties， and agreed to resume political， diplomatic and security dialogue.

“The hard-earned agreement is a valuable step towards a better relationship，”remarked Yang Bojiang， deputy head of the Institute of Japan Study of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “The two countries did it for the sake of a stable， healthy and sustainable relationship and regional peace and stability.”

A joint public opinion survey report released by the forum’s organizers CIPG and Genron NPO also indicates that the“unfavorable” impression of each other’s country is showing signs of recovery from the worst level of the past couple of years， despite the fact that historical issues and island disputes remain obstacles to further improvement of China-Japan ties.

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the forum， Minister of State Council Information Office Jiang Jianguo said that China and Japan are closer neighbors， and the two peoples learnt from each other and jointly contributed to the prosperity of eastern Asian civilization. “History shows that amity between China and Japan could lead to promotion of mutual interests while belligerence could only injure both. This is why China and Japan should enhance friendship so as to broaden common interest and to achieve win-win results，” he added.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda， the highest-ranked Japanese consultant of the forum， admitted that current China-Japan relations were in difficulty. “The reason why we have to improve Japan-China political relations is that they are of great importance for peace， stability and development of Asia and the world，” said Fukuda， quoting the proverb “Smart people learn from history and stupid people learn from experience.”

According to Lu Fengding， vice chairman of China Public Diplomacy Association， the most urgent and important task for improving China-Japan relations is to carry out the four-point agreement reached between the two countries last November， and properly handle and control sensitive issues in Sino-Japanese ties. “Establishing mutual political trust is a significant prerequisite and long-term task for the stable development of bilateral relations between the two countries，” he remarked.

Against the backdrop of decreasing volumes of trade and investment between China and Japan in recent years， delegates from both countries called for expanding economic cooperation.

Wei Jianguo， executive deputy director of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former Vice-Minister of Commerce， suggested that the two countries expand cooperation in sectors like green economy， health care， modern agriculture， and new technology. “We hope Japanese enterprises will participate in the process of China’s economic restructuring and particularly make the service industry a key realm to explore in the Chinese market，” he said.

Hirohide Yamaguchi， chairman of the Advisory Board of Nikko Financial Intelligence， Inc. and former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan， believed that it is important for Japan and China， two major economies in Asia and the world at large， to enhance economic cooperation. “In the future，” he added， “well-established international financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank and emerging international financial institutions like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank should work together and complement each other in promoting infrastructure construction in various Asian countries. In this regard， China-Japan cooperation enjoys a wide space for development.”

Launched in 2005， the Beijing-Tokyo Forum has developed into one of the most important platforms for bilateral dialogue. Coming at a difficult time for China-Japan relations， this year’s forum was held to bridge the differences between the two countries and to improve ties through people-to-people communication. “No matter how difficult China-Japan relations become， we will do our best to deal with it. Holding this forum is one example of how our effort will extensively gather different voices while expanding consensus，” declared CIPG President Zhou Mingwei.