Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to resume mutually beneficial relations in their first direct talks in a year, indicating that the two largest economies in Asia are looking to ease tensions between them. The leaders also discussed China's ban on Japanese seafood and the case of a Japanese businessman detained in China during their one-hour talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco on Thursday evening.
Xi told Kishida that the two countries should "focus on common interests," and emphasized the need to improve "mutually beneficial strategic relations and give them new meaning." In a joint statement issued in 2008, Japan and China agreed to resume "mutually beneficial relations based on common strategic interests," aiming for cooperation between the leaders on issues such as security. However, this has not been implemented in recent years due to disputes over a series of issues such as territorial disputes, trade tensions, and Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory.
Recently, relations between the two countries have faced challenges due to China's ban on Japanese seafood following Tokyo's decision to discharge treated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea in August. Kishida strongly urged Xi to lift the ban and to swiftly release the detained businessman. Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi indicated Japan should seriously consider the concerns related to the discharge of water from the Fukushima plant and handle the matter responsibly.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry stated that both sides committed to holding high-level meetings regarding economic issues and welcomed the launch of a new framework to discuss export restrictions. The meeting of the leaders followed a long-awaited summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, in which the two great powers agreed to open a presidential hotline and resume military communications and other issues.
