China's Li seeks cooperation with Japan amid tariff war with U.S.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for deepening cooperation with Japan to counter "challenges to the world" posed by U.S. high tariffs as he met a Japanese business delegation led by former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono, a group member said.
Li also told the group consisting of some 100 business representatives and other members that he "attaches great importance" to a request from Tokyo to lease some more Chinese giant pandas as all the pandas currently living in Japan are set to return home by February next year, the member said.
Kono asked Li to visit Japan for a summit meeting involving the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea, which Tokyo aims to host later this year, and proposed the premier take some pandas with him on that occasion. According to the member, Li smiled and called it "an important proposal."
In the talks with the delegation from the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, held at the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, China's No. 2 leader after President Xi Jinping pointed to the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, in an apparent reference to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the member.
"The door of the Chinese market is always open to Japanese businesses. We hope to see more investment" from Japan, he was quoted as saying.
The premier said the two Asian neighbors should "expand the scale of trade and investment and achieve a higher level of mutual benefit and win-win results" under the current international situation, state-run China Central Television said.
Kono requested Beijing to ease export restrictions on rare earths used in production of chip materials and ensure the safety of Japanese nationals living in China, the delegate said.
Recent stabbing incidents and a murder case involving Japanese citizens in China have sent shockwaves through the Japanese community in the country.
The delegation members include Okinawa Vice Gov. Hajime Oshiro.
The association last sent a delegation to Beijing in July 2024, when its members met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The 2023 delegation held talks with Li.
The group, which arrived in Beijing on Monday, will return to Japan next Sunday after visiting the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, which borders Vietnam.
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