Expert: Healthy and stable Sino-Japanese relations benefit both countries

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is currently in Japan for a three-day visit. During a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on Monday, Wang highlighted the importance for both sides to stick to the four political documents that were signed over the past decades. In addition, the two countries have reached an agreement to further consolidate the momentum of improving bilateral ties.

Rong Ying, vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, said Sino-Japan relations are significant but also complicated. The economic cooperation has always been so crucial that it can serve as a propeller to push relations in a right direction.

Sino-Japanese ties have gone through rises and falls in recent years. It is obvious that Japan has relented in making official visits to China since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe staged a comeback to office in 2012. Along with it, the bilateral economic dialogue has also been laid aside for eight years. Therefore, Wang Yi’s visit this time is viewed as a huge step forward.

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono (R) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (L) during their meeting in Tokyo, April 15, 2018. Wang Yi arrived in Tokyo for a visit seen as a sign of a gradual thaw between the Asian rivals, amid flurries of diplomacy over the DPRK. / VCG Photo.

So far, the talks have already achieved positive results. For example, leaders from both sides have scheduled mutual visits for the future. The resumed economic dialogue signals both Beijing and Tokyo are seeking to thaw their frosty ties, and alleviate trade tensions that have rattled world markets.

“As both China’s and Japan’s economy develops and the structure changes, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has entered a new stage with new features. I think Japan and China should take these opportunities seriously and work together for new means of cooperation to push for a win-win situation,” said Rong Ying on CGTN's The World Today.

The four documents are the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972, the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1978, the China-Japan Joint Declaration of 1998, and a joint statement on advancing relations in 2008.