Japan Friendship Delegation Set to Meet 3rd Ranking Official of China's Communist Party; Representatives Seek Progression on Outstanding Issues
Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, who serves as chairman of the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association, left, meets with Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, in Beijing on Monday.
BEIJING — A delegation from the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association, a nonpartisan group of Japanese lawmakers, is expected to meet with Zhao Leji, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the third-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party, in Beijing on Tuesday.
The delegation hopes to advance Japan-China relations and help resolve pending issues such as the resumption of imports of Japanese marine products.
Fourteen lawmakers are participating in the visit to China, which began on Sunday. Members include Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, who serves as chairman of the association; Banri Kaieda, a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, who was a former vice speaker of the House of Representatives; Motohisa Furukawa, acting representative of the Democratic Party for the People; and Kazuo Shii, chairperson of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party.
On Monday, the delegation met with Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, an international exchange organization. At the meeting, Moriyama stressed that 'personal exchange and mutual understanding are indispensable for putting Japan-China relations on a positive track.' In response, Yang said that 'the visit to China will be of great significance in improving mutual political trust.'
Moriyama also asked Yang for cooperation in lending new pandas to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo and the Adventure World theme park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, as the deadline to return the current pandas approaches.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, former chief representative of Komeito, and others also arrived China on Monday, following the visit of Komeito Chief Representative Tetsuo Saito, who stayed from April 22 to 24. Yamaguchi and others will engage in educational and cultural exchanges between Japan and China until Wednesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
an hour ago
- The Mainichi
Japan to push firms' foray into Africa under new initiative
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government will announce a new initiative next week to expand investment in Africa, in cooperation with India and Middle Eastern countries, at an international conference on the high-potential continent, government sources said Thursday. At the three-day Tokyo International Conference on African Development, starting next Wednesday in Yokohama near Tokyo, Japan and African nations are also expected to agree to promote academic, industrial and governmental discussions to boost trade between the regions, the sources said. Amid China's growing influence in Africa through large financial contributions, Japan will stress its role as a "partner" in working with African states to address social challenges, including fostering industries, the sources said. At the TICAD gathering, the ninth since its launch in 1993, Japanese and African political leaders are set to discuss concrete measures to strengthen cooperation in the three key areas of "economy," "society" and "peace and stability." Under the "Indian Ocean and Africa" economic initiative, Tokyo will work with New Delhi to help Japanese companies, mainly those operating in India, tap into the African market. "In general, Japanese businesses that have already advanced to India tend to view Africa as a realistic target market," and supporting them will be an effective way to contribute to Africa's development, a source said, adding that Japanese firms in the Middle East have a similar tendency. Among other economic agenda items, Japan will promote a more proactive "offer-based" official development assistance policy, replacing its traditional "request-based" approach, with a focus on northern Mozambique, which has abundant natural resources and a good natural harbor, the sources said. Japan's push for digitalization in the medical field and demining efforts in Africa, in partnership with Cambodia, which cleared thousands of landmines from its decades-long civil war that ended in the early 1990s, are also likely to be among the topics, the sources said. The triennial conference will be co-chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Angolan President Joao Lourenco, with more than 40 African nations expected to participate, according to government officials. Japan last hosted the TICAD talks in 2019.
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Japan's Eneos to adopt AI for failure prevention at refineries
Eneos' Sendai refinery was one of the first to test out an AI system that will be used at all of its refineries in Japan. (Photo by Mao Kawano) MAO KAWANO August 15, 2025 07:15 JST TOKYO -- Japanese energy company Eneos Holdings will introduce AI-equipped failure prevention systems at all of its nine refineries in Japan by fiscal 2026.
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Corporate Japan girds for $23bn profit hit from Trump tariffs
Komatsu is starting to raise prices on mining machines and other heavy equipment in North America. (Komatsu) KOSUKE OKAMOTO August 15, 2025 07:37 JST TOKYO -- Major Japanese corporations are staring at a 3.5 trillion yen ($23.6 billion) full-year impact on earnings from U.S. tariffs, a Nikkei analysis shows, with the automotive, electrical equipment and machinery industries to take the brunt of the fallout.
