Japanese prime minister pledges to elevate bilateral relationship to a ‘new dimension’Beijing and Tokyo must work together as ‘problems that cannot be resolved by one country alone multiply’
Beijing would welcome Japan’s involvement in China’s overseas infrastructure projects, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday as the two countries marked the 40th anniversary of a mutual friendship treaty.
Li made the offer in a meeting with Shinzo Abe, the first Japanese prime minister to visit China in seven years.
“China and Japan have to stick to the path of peace, friendship and cooperation to build a more mature and consolidated China-Japan relationship,” Li was quoted by state-run CCTV as saying.
“China welcomes Japan to take part in the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’,” he said, referring to President Xi Jinping’s signature push to link economies into a China-centred trading network.
The two nations had to step up cooperation to foster mutual trust, and work together to protect multilateralism, Li added.
Abe pledged to lift Tokyo’s often-tense relations with Beijing into a “new dimension” in a “new era” of cooperation.
“Today, Japan and China are playing an essential role in economic growth not only in Asia but in the world,” he said.
“As problems that cannot be resolved by one country alone have risen, the time has come for Japan and China to jointly contribute to world peace and prosperity.
