Ambassador of Japan to China Kenji Kanasugi visits the ICC

Zhang Chongqing(Left)  Kenji Kanasugi (Right)

On December 10, at the invitation of the International Cooperation Center Joint Council (ICC), Ambassador of Japan to China Kenji Kanasugi and his delegation visited the Jianguomen office area of the ICC. Zhang Chongqing, member of the Strategy Advisory Committee of the ICC Joint Council and the Honorary President of the China Group Companies Association (CGCA); Zhang Yu, Convenor of the Joint Meeting and Director of the Steering Committee of the ICC met with the Ambassador. The two sides had in-depth exchanges on topics such as enhancing political mutual trust, promoting multilateral cooperation, deepening economy, trade and investment, promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and strengthening youth exchanges. They also discussed about international and regional issues of common interest, meeting the expectations of the talks. The two sides expressed that China and Japan were close neighbors and important countries in Asia and the world, and relation was of great significance, which was beyond bilateral relations. The 20th “Beijing-Tokyo Forum” was recently held in Tokyo, Japan, and the results of a public opinion survey on China-Japan relations on the eve of the forum showed that economic and trade cooperation was still the ballast stone and propeller of China-Japan relations. More than half of the respondents of the two countries regarded each other as important economic and trade partner. The two sides should make joint efforts to comprehensively advance the China-Japan strategic relationship of mutual benefit and commit to building a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era.

The two sides stressed that the current international and regional situation was complicated and intertwined, and China-Japan relationship was at a critical period of improvement and development. The two countries should strengthen coordination on international and regional affairs, practice genuine multilateralism, promote open regionalism, and jointly cope with global challenges. The two sides agreed to establish, with the support of the two governments, a “1 and half track” long-term dialogue mechanism between the ICC and the Embassy of Japan in China to conduct regular coordination and consultation on major issues in bilateral and multilateral affairs.

Mu Dong, the Asia-Pacific Affairs Advisor of the ICC; Cheng Yu, Executive Secretary General of the ICC; Xin Shaosong, Deputy Director of Office of the ICC; Zheng Guangyu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Exchanges Committee of the ICC; Jiang Xiaopeng, member of the Foreign Exchanges Committee of the ICC; Kawamura Tadaaki, Minister of Economic Affairs and Chief Financial Attache, Embassy of Japan in China; Nonomura Kaitaro, Political Minister, Embassy of Japan in China; Ishida Haruna, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Japan in China; Sakai Satoshi, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Japan in China; and Tatsumi Tomohito, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan in China attended the meeting.