Closer Chinese, Japanese exchanges proposed

China and Japan should develop extensive exchanges in different fields for the sake of the future of Asia and the world, according to a document issued on Sunday.

The Beijing Consensus calls on the two countries to promote a more open and rule-based free trade system, actively lead regional integration, and work together for the peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. It recommends deepening mutual understanding between the two peoples.

The document was released by the 15th Beijing-Tokyo Forum, held in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday. This year, the event focused on the responsibilities China and Japan should take to safeguard the peace and development in Asia and the rest of the world in the new era.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech during the forum's opening ceremony in which he said China and Japan are shouldering increasingly important joint responsibilities and common missions, as both have become key regional influencers.

The two countries should establish a higher level of political mutual trust, carry out higher-quality, mutually beneficial cooperation, promote more cultural exchanges, play a more active regional leading role, build more constructive security relations, and strengthen more strategic multilateral cooperation, he said.

Building trust

Yasuo Fukuda, a former Japanese prime minister, spoke in his speech of the responsibility that both Japan and China have to formulate corresponding rules and procedures for implementing the concepts and principles of the international community.

He said that it is in line with the interest of the world as well as Japan and China to strengthen and safeguard the international order, build a multilateral framework of cooperation and develop a free economy.

"It is both a realistic need of the two countries and a strong demand of the times," Fukuda said, adding that Tokyo and Beijing should consider the benefit of the international community, not just their own.

Chinese and Japanese panelists at the forum conceded that their countries are divided on many issues, and they agreed to work hard on building long-lasting trust between the two governments and peoples.

Zhang Tuosheng, chairman of the Academic Committee at China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, suggested that China and Japan should resume defense and security consultations as soon as possible and should conduct joint exercises in fields such as counterterrorism and maritime search and rescue.

Korean Peninsula

The two nations should also cooperate on the denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula to promote the stability and development of this region, he said.

Shigeki Sato, Japan's former vice-minister of health, labor and welfare, said Japan and China have in the new era extensive and in-depth cooperation opportunities in multiple fields, such as safeguarding a fair international trade system, developing new energy and responding to natural disasters and aging society.

The annual Beijing-Tokyo Forum, founded in 2005, is seen as a high-level platform for nongovernmental exchange and to improve Sino-Japanese ties through public opinion polls and dialogues. The next round will be held in Tokyo.