On October 26, the first China-Japan Third-Party Market Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Beijing. Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the forum and delivered speeches. Director of the Development and Reform Commission He Lifeng, Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko also attended the forum and delivered speeches.

Minister Zhong Shan said that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. The pragmatic cooperation between the two sides has embraced new opportunities. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reached an important consensus on carrying out third-party market cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. During Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s visit to Japan in May this year, the two sides signed a memorandum on the third-party market cooperation between Chinese and Japanese enterprises. The China-Japan third-party market cooperation will open up new paths for the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries, bring opportunities to the two countries and third parties, and make new contributions to promoting prosperity in this region and to world economic stability.

Zhongshan made three suggestions on China-Japan third-party market cooperation. First, we should innovate the model of open and win-win cooperation. We should follow the principle of “enterprises playing the key role, market-based operation, government guidance, and mutual trust and benefit” to explore the prior areas and key fields of the third-party market cooperation. Second, we should implement policies and measures on trade connectivity. We should build more trade promotion platforms, guide strong enterprises to conduct trade and investment cooperation in host countries, and develop new trade modes such as cross-border e-commerce. Third, we should establish a long-term support and promotion mechanism. We will give play to the role of economic organizations and trade promotion agencies of the two countries, build information sharing platforms and training mechanisms, and bridge the cooperation between the two countries by organizing meetings, fairs and joint exhibitions.

Minister Hiroshige Seko said that Japan-China economic and trade relations are in a critical period of transiting from competition to cooperation, and this forum will become a new starting point for Japan-China economic cooperation and development. In the future, Japan is willing to work together with China to promote high quality cooperation projects that meet international standards, and to discuss projects with cooperative potential such as the Eastern Economic Corridor.

The China-Japan Third-Party Market Cooperation Forum is co-hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce, China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It provides a platform for the governments and the private sectors of the two countries to conduct exchanges on third-party market cooperation. More than 1,000 representatives from the Chinese and Japanese governments, economic organizations and enterprises attended the forum. The two sides held theme discussions through four sub-forums on transportation and logistics, energy and environmental protection, industrial upgrading and financial support, and regional development to promote pragmatic cooperation and projects matchmaking between enterprises. During the forum, the two sides signed 52 cooperation agreements, including infrastructure, finance, logistics, and information technology.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)