Chinese and Japanese experts call for economic cooperation

On December 16, 2021, the 38th China-Japan Economic Knowledge Exchange Conference, hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council, was held in Beijing. Sixty officials and scholars from the Development Research Center of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, China's Ministry of Finance, China's Ministry of Commerce and State-owned enterprises, as well as Japanese institutions, participated in the meeting both online and offline, and discussed economic cooperation.

Ma Jiantang, secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Development Research Center of the State Council, stated in his opening remark that after the outbreak of the COVID-19, China and Japan are both undergoing economic recovery and pursuing sustainable development in the post-pandemic era. China and Japan should step up dialogue, develop China-Japan relations in the new era, jointly safeguard the trade and investment environment, strengthen economic and trade cooperation, achieve complementary advantages and mutual benefit, and make greater contributions to the development of China-Japan relations in the new era.

Toshihiko Fukui, president of the Canon Institute for Global Studies and former governor of the Bank of Japan, stressed that Japan and China have a long history of economic and cultural exchanges. The two countries can continue to inherit their historical traditions, carry out in-depth exchanges and cooperation in the fields of carbon neutrality and digital innovation, overcome difficulties together and create a better future.

After the opening ceremony, officials and scholars from China and Japan discussed about the world economic situation and bilateral economic situation, economic cooperation, and green economic transformation.

Pan Jiang, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation at the National Development and Reform Commission, said in his keynote speech that in the face of the pandemic, China's economy has recovered steadily, injecting strong impetus into the world economy. It also provides new opportunities for China-Japan economic and trade cooperation. China and Japan should shoulder their responsibilities together, respond to major challenges, uphold multilateralism, and build China-Japan relations in the new era.

Yasushi Kinoshita, chairman of the Development Bank of Japan, said that Japan and China should strengthen cooperation and play a leading role in the field of climate change and digital transformation, providing strong support for solving global issues.

Luo Xiaomei, deputy head of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the economic and trade cooperation between China and Japan has a long history, and China's further opening-up has injected new momentum into such cooperation. Both China and Japan should strengthen cooperation in various fields and create bilateral economic and trade cooperation in line with the new era.

Tetsuya Teshima, executive director of Japan's Mizuho Bank, said that the business environment in Japan and China not only requires enterprises to actively participate in the construction and improvement, but also requires the two countries to strengthen communication and enhance mutual trust.

Weng Zuliang, chairman of the China Minmetals Corporation, emphasized that Chinese and Japanese entrepreneurs should join hands in all-round strategic cooperation, fully leverage the scale effect and complementary advantages, jointly achieve high-value results at a relatively low cost, and stimulate new drivers of regional economic development.

Gao Shiji, director-general of the Research Institute of Resources and Environment Policies of DRC, stressed that with the philosophy of new development, China is taking actions to achieve its dual carbon goals. It will promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development while pursuing high-quality development.

Fu Gangfeng, president of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, said that green development is an important mission for the world shipping industry. China and Japan should jointly promote the green transformation of the shipping industry and green economic development.

During the meeting, Chinese and Japanese officials and scholars learned from each other's development and governance experience and reached consensus on cooperation.

They agreed that there are broad prospects for economic and trade cooperation between China and Japan. The two countries should comprehensively advance the development of the cooperation mechanism, expand the scope of cooperation, share the vision of cooperation, promote green transformation and make new contributions to global high-quality development.