Chinese premier urges Japanese business leaders to help improve bilateral ties

Premier Li Keqiang urged Japanese business leaders to help improve the China-Japan relations during a meeting with a business delegation on Wednesday.

"I hope the business community will continue to actively support the development of China-Japan relations and cooperation," Li said while meeting with over 200 people from major Japanese enterprises.

Li welcomed them to visit China and spoke highly of the "long-term important contribution" made by Japanese businesses to exchange and cooperation.

He said the two countries should continue to properly handle sensitive issues such as history and disputes, and promote the improvement of relations, on the basis of the four political documents and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror and facing up to the future.

The delegation, organized by Japan Business Federation, the Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry -- Japan's three major economic organizations -- was the first Japanese delegation to visit China after Li and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Seoul.

This is also the first time the three organizations have brought so many representatives to China together.

Sakakibara Sadayuki, chair of the Japan Business Federation, said the downturn of bilateral trade in the past three years was partially due to the strained political and diplomatic relations between Japan and China.

"Business players welcome improvements to bilateral relations, and welcome regular exchanges and dialogue between various levels," he said.

Akio Mimura, chair of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he hoped medium and small sized companies could engage in more cooperation.

The delegates, including president of the Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade Muneoka Shoji, voiced interest in China's economic situation and the investment environment.

Li said China and Japan should be opportunities for each other's development. China will continue to push forward structural reform and adjustment, and promote technological innovation to lay the foundation for sustainable development.

China is ready to work with Japan to expand production-capacity cooperation and jointly conduct infrastructure construction cooperation in developing countries, Li added.

He said China would promote the freedom and facility of trade and investment, and work with other countries to speed up negotiations on the China-South Korea-Japan free trade agreement (FTA) and the regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP).

The Chinese government will broaden market access, improve supervision and better protect intellectual property rights to provide a more open, transparent and fair investment environment for foreign companies, the premier said.

The delegation was invited by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade for a seven-day visit from Tuesday to Sunday. The council held a dialogue with about 200 Chinese businessmen in Beijing, covering electromechanical, energy, household appliances, communication, agriculture, food, finance, and light textile.

After Beijing, delegates will go to Sichuan Province in southwest China, where they will visit an economic development zone and a science and technology city. Endi