To further improve the sour diplomatic relations between Asia's two largest economies, China will send a deputy premier-level leader to Japan for the first time in three years for an upcoming parliamentary exchange meeting in Tokyo.
Ji Bingxuan, vice chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, will head the parliamentary delegation to visit Tokyo between April 8 and 11, according to diplomatic sources.
It will mark the first time a Chinese official at the deputy premier level has visited Japan since Japan-China relations deteriorated following the Japanese government’s purchase of three of the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in September 2012.
The National People’s Congress is China’s parliament, and the delegation’s aim is to foster exchanges with Japan’s Lower House. Ji is scheduled to attend a Japan-China parliamentary exchange committee that will be held for the first time in about three years.
Arrangements are also under way for a meeting between the deputy premier and Lower House Speaker Nobutaka Machimura.
Relations between the two countries have shown signs of recovery since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in November last year on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit meeting in Beijing.
In March, a Chinese Cabinet member visited Japan for the first time in about three years to attend the U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai.
On April 4, former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone conveyed Abe’s message of friendship at a reception for a special joint staging of kabuki and traditional Chinese opera in Beijing.
“Exchanges between our traditional cultures have carved important chapters in the history of the two countries' friendly relations,” Abe wrote in the message. “This stage must be credited for marking the opening of a new era of the Japan-China friendship.”
A Chinese Cabinet member is also scheduled to visit Tokyo for a meeting between tourism ministers of Japan, China and South Korea, which will be held on April 11 and 12.
China to dispatch deputy premier-level official to Japan for 1st time in 3 years - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Ji Bingxuan, vice chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, will head the parliamentary delegation to visit Tokyo between April 8 and 11, according to diplomatic sources.
It will mark the first time a Chinese official at the deputy premier level has visited Japan since Japan-China relations deteriorated following the Japanese government’s purchase of three of the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in September 2012.
The National People’s Congress is China’s parliament, and the delegation’s aim is to foster exchanges with Japan’s Lower House. Ji is scheduled to attend a Japan-China parliamentary exchange committee that will be held for the first time in about three years.
Arrangements are also under way for a meeting between the deputy premier and Lower House Speaker Nobutaka Machimura.
Relations between the two countries have shown signs of recovery since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in November last year on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit meeting in Beijing.
In March, a Chinese Cabinet member visited Japan for the first time in about three years to attend the U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai.
On April 4, former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone conveyed Abe’s message of friendship at a reception for a special joint staging of kabuki and traditional Chinese opera in Beijing.
“Exchanges between our traditional cultures have carved important chapters in the history of the two countries' friendly relations,” Abe wrote in the message. “This stage must be credited for marking the opening of a new era of the Japan-China friendship.”
A Chinese Cabinet member is also scheduled to visit Tokyo for a meeting between tourism ministers of Japan, China and South Korea, which will be held on April 11 and 12.
China to dispatch deputy premier-level official to Japan for 1st time in 3 years - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
