(Reuters) — Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met China’s State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Saturday (April 30), in a visit aimed at improving the ties between the two largest economies in Asia.
Kishida shook hands with China’s State Councillor Yang Jiechi before sat down for talks with delegations from both sides.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Chinese people for welcoming me and I am very happy to be able to meet State Councillor Yang Jiechi in this way,” Kishida said in his opening remarks.
China, the world‘s second-largest economy, and Japan, the third-largest, have a difficult political history, with ties strained by the legacy of Japan’s World War Two aggression and conflicting claims over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets.
Ties have been thawing recently, with meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but Beijing remains deeply suspicious of Japan, particularly of moves by Abe to allow the military to fight overseas for the first time since the war.
Kishida also met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi earlier at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Wang made suggestions for how to improve relations.
Japan “should have a more positive and healthy attitude toward the growth of China, and stop spreading or echoing all kinds of ‘China threat’ or ‘China economic recession’ theories”, the ministry said in a statement.
“The Japanese side should cast aside the confrontation mentality and work with China to maintain peace, stability and prosperity of the region,” it added.
