Archive for ‘Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership’

04/11/2019

Seven years on, still no RCEP trade deal, and India pulls out

  • Hopes were high a regional summit could finally wrap up negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
  • But despite claims of ‘significant progress’ in the 16-nation talks, India remains a stumbling block
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Premier Li Keqiang attend the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Summit in Bangkok. Photo: AFP
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Premier Li Keqiang attend the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Summit in Bangkok. Photo: AFP
Fifteen of the countries involved in negotiating a mammoth 16-nation Asian trade pact were on Monday hoping to seal the deal after seven years of talks but faced a fresh setback as India signalled it was pulling out over terms that were against New Delhi’s interests.
A joint statement by all 16 states involved in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) said 15 economies had “concluded text-based negotiations for all 20 chapters and essentially all their market access issues”, and would undertake legal scrubbing of the proposed pact before a formal signing in 2020.
But “India has significant outstanding issues, which remained unresolved”, the statement said.
“All RCEP participating countries will work together to resolve these outstanding issues in a mutually satisfactory way. India’s final decision will depend on satisfactory resolution of these issues.”
Multiple Indian media outlets reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a Monday evening meeting of leaders from the RCEP countries that “neither the talisman of [Mahatma Gandhi] nor my own conscience permit me to join the RCEP”.

“When I measure the RCEP agreement, with respect to the interest of Indians, I don’t get a positive answer,” he was quoted as saying.

Indians protest against the Modi-led government’s backing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Photo: AFP
Indians protest against the Modi-led government’s backing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Photo: AFP

Henry Gao, a law professor at the Singapore Management University focusing on international trade law, said an RCEP without India would be “even more worthwhile” for the so-called RCEP-15.

He cited two reasons: India’s “low ambitions” for the pact, and the high level of integration among the countries of East and Southeast Asia which are part of the RCEP-15.

“A mega trade deal like RCEP will only further accelerate the integration process and greatly boost trade and economic growth in the region,” Gao said.

Explained: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
Earlier expectations were that the joint statement would declare at least a “substantial conclusion”, “near conclusion” or “in principle conclusion” of the RCEP, which aims to create a free-trade zone spanning 39 per cent of the world economy.
The phrasing used to describe the progress of negotiations is being closely parsed because, since it requires endorsement from all RCEP countries, it accurately captures the sentiment of all the 16 negotiating teams.
Last year, Singapore, as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), pushed for a conclusion of the deal, but eventually the joint statement declared that only “substantial progress” had been made.
Asean countries plus six others are negotiating the trade pact. Photo: AFP
Asean countries plus six others are negotiating the trade pact. Photo: AFP

Indian media, citing government sources, said the pact’s inadequate protection against import surges, the possible circumvention of rules of origin, and a lack of “credible assurances” on market access and non-tariff barriers, proved too much for New Delhi to swallow.

India,

facing fierce domestic criticism for being in the pact despite opposition even from

Modi’s 

Hindu nationalist support base, last week piled on a fresh set of demands that other countries balked at, negotiators from Southeast Asian countries said over the weekend.

Furious efforts that continued up to Sunday night failed to bridge the gap between India and the 15 countries.
India’s concerns about RCEP remain the major obstacle to world’s largest trade deal

Indian critics of the RCEP say the deal will have a ruinous impact on the South Asian economy, which has trade deficits with the other 15 countries.

The biggest opposition has come from the country’s long protected industries, such as its dairy sector, which fears it could be wiped out by lower tariffs on Australian and New Zealand products that would result from the RCEP.

Indian government sources on Monday said the country had not made last-minute demands, but Southeast Asian negotiators said major demands were made as late as Thursday.

Gao, the Singapore-based law professor, said it “makes sense for India to stay out” as it would have faced “a lot of competition from Chinese manufactured products” if it were part of the deal.

“India could temporarily shield its firms from Chinese competition by staying out, but whether this will work in the long term is a different question,” he said.

Source: SCMP

13/10/2019

Xi, Modi agree to trim trade deficit, boost mutual trust amid US-China tensions

  • The leaders agreed to set up a mechanism to boost economic ties and tackle India’s trade deficit with China after their second informal summit
  • As 2020 is the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both countries, India and China will hold 70 events next year to promote relations
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Mamallapuram, Chennai. Photo: EPA
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Mamallapuram, Chennai. Photo: EPA
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi concluded their second informal summit on Saturday by pledging to overcome trade differences and appreciate “each other’s autonomous foreign policies”, signalling an effort to focus on mutual interests rather than on long-standing contentious issues.
Modi remarked that both sides had agreed to be “sensitive” to each other’s concerns and not let differences escalate into disputes, while Xi called for communication to “alleviate suspicions” and for India and China to enhance strategic mutual trust, according to state news broadcaster CCTV.
Their desire to look beyond irritants in diplomatic ties, including a decades-long border row and China’s close military ties with India’s arch rival, Pakistan, comes as Beijing is embroiled in a tariff war with Washington that has rocked the global economy.
In a sign of China’s willingness to address India’s trade deficit with it, the leaders agreed to launch a “High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue”.
As Xi meets Modi, Chinese in Chennai hope to witness the ‘Wuhan spirit’
Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet regularly to discuss ways to boost two-way trade and investments, Indian foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said in a media briefing.
India has a US$53 billion trade deficit with China, which makes up almost a third of its total trade deficit. It is also facing pressure to decide if it will commit to the China-led

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

(RCEP), which aims to create the world’s largest trading bloc involving 16 countries before the end of the year.

Narendra Modi exchanges gifts with Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP
Narendra Modi exchanges gifts with Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP

Negotiations are ongoing with talks taking place in Bangkok this week, but India’s domestic producers have opposed the agreement over fears of a flood of Chinese imports. On Friday, the Indian government rejected clauses in the agreement related to e-commerce, according to reports.

Gokhale told the media briefing that both leaders, who met in the coastal town of Mamallapuram about 50km away from Chennai, briefly discussed the RCEP.

“PM Modi said India was looking forward to the RCEP but it is important that RCEP is balanced, that a balance is maintained in trade in goods, trade in services and investments,” he said, adding that Xi agreed to further discussions of India’s concerns on the issue.

Narendra Modi with Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram. Photo: EPA
Narendra Modi with Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram. Photo: EPA

CCTV said Xi had six suggestions for how China and India could further improve ties, including assessing each other correctly and stepping up cooperation between their militaries. Besides economic and trade dialogue, China welcomed Indian pharmaceutical and IT companies to invest there, he said.

“We should look at disputes with a correct mind, and not let disputes affect cooperation.

“Both sides should properly and fairly get a solution for border disputes that are acceptable to each other … [and] cautiously handle each other’s core interests, and take proper measures to control issues that cannot be resolved immediately,” the president reportedly said.

Gokhale told reporters that both countries had agreed to pursue, through special representatives, an ongoing dialogue on their disputed border. China and India have held more than 20 rounds of talks to resolve their boundary dispute, over which they went to war in 1962. Different mechanisms have been set up to maintain peace along the 4,000-kilometre (2,485-mile) so-called Line of Actual Control.

Xi and Modi bank on chemistry as they talk trade and terrorism

Gokhale confirmed that the leaders – who met for a total of seven hours over Friday and Saturday, with the bulk of their time spent in one-on-one talks – did not discuss 

Kashmir

, a region that is currently divided between India and Pakistan but which both nuclear-armed rivals claim in full.

Since India revoked the autonomy of the area it controls in August and imposed a lockdown,

Pakistan

has lobbied its allies – including its all-weather friend China – to support its opposition to the move. New Delhi had reacted sharply to Beijing’s move to take the matter to the United Nations, insisting that it was a purely bilateral issue. Two days before the summit, Xi had hosted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and had assured him of China’s support on all core issues, a statement that had irked India.

Gokhale said both leaders “emphasised the importance of having independent and autonomous foreign policies”.
“President Xi said that the two countries needed to have more extensive dialogue in order to understand each other’s perspectives on major global and regional issues,” he added.
Narendra Modi exchanges gifts with Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP
Narendra Modi exchanges gifts with Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP

The leaders also discussed terrorism, with a statement issued later by New Delhi saying both sides would make efforts to ensure the international community strengthened its framework “against training, financing and supporting terrorist groups throughout the world and on a non-discriminatory basis”.

The China-led multilateral Financial Action Task Force, which has been investigating Pakistan’s efforts to stamp out the financing of terrorism, is expected to decide soon if it would add Islamabad to its blacklist along with Iran and North Korea, a move that could invite stringent economic sanctions and drive away international financial institutions, both of which could affect Pakistan’s already-indebted economy adversely.

Gokhale added that as 2020 is the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both countries, India and China will hold 70 events next year to promote people-to-people ties, with Modi accepting an invitation by Xi for the next informal summit to be held in China.

Both leaders had struck positive notes on the summit – with Xi describing their discussions as “candid” and between friends and Modi hailing the “Chennai Connect” meeting as marking a new era of cooperation between both countries.

War games, Kashmir and a US$57b question: the issues as Xi meets Modi

But analysts said they would be looking to see how the newly-announced high-level mechanism on trade panned out.

Narayani Basu, a New Delhi-based author, foreign policy analyst and China watcher felt the summit had achieved its purpose of bagging small wins for both sides.

“Discussing contentious issues would have defeated the purpose of the summit. The idea behind such a summit must be that despite the overarching posturing on different divergent issues, the two countries can achieve the easily-achievable wins. That is what the summit seems to have tried doing.”

But in terms of actual outcomes, she said she remained sceptical.

“I don’t think there has been much progress in the ties between the two countries since the last summit in Wuhan. Hence, this time, there is a lot more caution and scepticism towards such a summit,” she said, referring to the first summit last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

During Xi’s visit to southern India, which lasted 24 hours in all, Modi took him on a personal tour of temple monuments dating back to the seventh and eighth century in Mamallapuram when regional leaders had trade ties with Chinese provinces. He was also shown local artisan handicrafts and art forms, and gifted a handwoven silk portrait, a lamp and a painting.

Xi gave Modi a porcelain plate with the image of the prime minister’s face printed on it.

Xi Jinping with Narendra Modi in Mamallapuram. Photo: Reuters
Xi Jinping with Narendra Modi in Mamallapuram. Photo: Reuters

On Friday, New Delhi announced that visa rules for Chinese nationals visiting India would be relaxed, with multiple-entry visas with a validity period of five years available from this month onwards. At present, most visas are single-entry and usually for between 30 and 60 days. Visa fees would also be reduced, the government said, with the multiple-entry visa costing US$80.

This was aimed at further enhancing “people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and [encouraging] more Chinese tourists to choose India as a destination for tourism purposes,” it said in a statement.

Xi left Chennai on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Nepal, which lies in between India and China. He will be the first Chinese president to visit Nepal in 22 years and is expected to sign a slew of deals with Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, including the planned extension of the rail link from remote, mountainous Tibet to Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.

The link will be part of Beijing’s ambitious infrastructure project to boost trade, the 

Belt and Road Initiative

(BRI), that Nepal joined two years ago.

More than 120 countries have signed on to the BRI, including Pakistan, where a series of projects worth US$46 billion are being constructed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). India has snubbed the BRI and questioned the transparency of funding agreements.
Source: SCMP
24/09/2019

China Focus: China, ASEAN embrace shared future along Belt and Road

NANNING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) — The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides momentum for regional economic integration and connectivity, helping China and ASEAN forge a closer community of shared future, said Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Nam Hong.

Hor made the remarks Saturday at the opening ceremony of the 16th China-ASEAN Expo themed “Building the Belt & Road, Realizing Our Vision for a Community of Shared Future.”

The deputy vice prime minister envisioned that the China-ASEAN strategic partnership and the BRI will further deepen the cooperation between the two sides in the joint pursuit of shared prosperity.

Statistics show that China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 130 countries across the globe and 30 international organizations on jointly building the Belt and Road, benefiting people of the involved nations.

Highlighting regional economic cooperation, this year’s China-ASEAN expo is expected to lift the practical and comprehensive cooperation between China, ASEAN and other countries participating in the BRI to new heights.

The expo has served as a crucial platform for promoting investment and trade in Asia over the past 16 years, setting an example of friendly cooperation between China and ASEAN, said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, special envoy of the Indonesian president and coordinating minister for maritime affairs.

As the Country of Honor for this year’s expo, Indonesia will showcase its high-quality products from more than 100 Indonesian enterprises.

Speaking highly of the BRI, Luhut said cooperation under the China-proposed initiative will boost infrastructure construction and trade among members of ASEAN to facilitate the building of the ASEAN Community.

To push China-ASEAN ties to new heights, both sides are making joint efforts in constructing the Belt and Road and implementing the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 under the guidance of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030.

The BRI accelerates regional connectivity and improves people’s livelihoods, said Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit, adding that Thailand had formulated plans to contribute to the completion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, alleviate volatility of the global economy and trade, and inject momentum into sustainable development.

Two-way investment between China and ASEAN countries grew robustly to reach 230 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of this year, with the establishment of 25 economic and trade cooperation zones creating over 100,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the cooperation between China and ASEAN in fields including international production capacity, the digital economy and e-commerce is also leaping forward.

Hailing the achievements of cooperation under the BRI, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said Laos will take an active role in building the Belt and Road.

Citing the China-Laos railway, the largest cooperation project between the two sides so far, Sonexay said it will promote regional peace, prosperity and sustainable development.

Apart from prospering bilateral trade and investment, recent years have seen the deepening of China-ASEAN cooperation in various other fields. ASEAN has become the largest destination for Chinese tourists, with the number of personal exchanges hitting 57 million in 2018 and nearly 4,000 flights traveling between both sides every week.

Holding similar viewpoints, Myanmar’s Vice President U Myint Swe said the BRI provides opportunities for developing trade and cross-border exchanges and bridging infrastructure gaps.

Looking forward to shared prosperity, Jurin said Thailand, as well as ASEAN, will collaborate with China to strive for sustainable development.

Source: Xinhua

21/09/2019

China-ASEAN ties enter new stage of all-round development: vice premier

CHINA-NANNING-HAN ZHENG-ASEAN-EXPO-OPENING

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, addresses the opening ceremony of the 16th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Sept. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

NANNING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) — Relations between China and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have entered a new stage of all-round development, Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said Saturday.

Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 16th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Stressing that ASEAN is a key area in Belt and Road construction, Han said China is willing to work with ASEAN countries to pursue a higher level strategic partnership and build a closer community with a shared future.

China is ready to work with ASEAN to construct the Belt and Road and implement the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 under the guidance of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030, Han said.

While stepping up efforts to implement the protocol on upgrading the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, China will join hands with relevant parties to complete the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, according to the vice premier.

With platforms such as the China International Import Expo and the China-ASEAN Expo injecting strong momentum into common development, China will cooperate with ASEAN in building economic and trade cooperation zones and the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor.

In addition, efforts will be made to boost the connectivity of infrastructures and deepen innovation cooperation in spheres such as e-commerce, digital trade and 5G internet, Han said.

Source: Xinhua

31/07/2019

China and US court Asean members to strengthen Indo-Pacific ties as trade war enters second year

  • China’s Wang Yi and US’ Mike Pompeo at summit in Thailand to sell their visions of future for Southeast Asia
  • Analysts expect pragmatism from Asean as world’s two biggest economic powers play diplomatic game
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) greets his Philippine counterpart Teodoro Locsin at the Asean meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) greets his Philippine counterpart Teodoro Locsin at the Asean meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Xinhua
China and the United States are on a mission to strengthen ties with allies and expand their influence in Southeast Asia this week as their trade war enters a second year.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Bangkok on Wednesday to promote the US-led Indo-Pacific strategy, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi touched down a day earlier to advance Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The US Department of State said Pompeo’s trip was aimed at deepening Washington’s “long-standing alliances and vibrant bilateral relations with these countries, and [to] reaffirm our commitment to Asean, which is central to our vision for the Indo-Pacific region”.
In Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that while their meeting was yet to be set, Wang and Pompeo were expected to meet and talk “frankly” about bilateral relations.
“I think that it is indeed necessary for China and the United States to maintain communication, as the two countries face many situations,” Hua said. “The issues would be communicated frankly”.

The Indo-Pacific strategy is a military and economic framework to contain China’s expansion into the Pacific and Indian oceans, and give an alternative to Beijing’s flagship belt and road development programme.

En route to Thailand, Pompeo said that after a stalled start to US Indo-Pacific policy during the Barack Obama administration, Washington’s strategy was well on its way to bearing fruit for the US and its allies.

South China Sea tensions, US-China trade war loom over Asean summit

“We have watched these coalitions build out,” he said.

Pompeo dismissed claims that China’s sphere of influence among Asean members was growing, saying such speculation was “not factually accurate”.

“[Asean countries] are looking for partners that are going to help them build out their economies and to take good care of their people,” he said, pledging greater engagement from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Pompeo was expected to sit down on Friday with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts to consolidate their trilateral alliance in the region.

He was also expected to hold talks with Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai that day.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Asean in Thailand. Photo: EPA-EFE
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Asean in Thailand. Photo: EPA-EFE

Meanwhile, Wang launched his belt and road pitch to his Cambodian, Philippine and Indonesian counterparts after he arrived in Thailand for the gathering, which ends on Saturday.

The belt and road projects are largely commercial and aimed at strengthening land and sea infrastructure linking Asia, Europe and Africa. But they raised suspicion in the West that they are aimed at eroding the US-led world order.

During his meeting with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Wang said: “China is willing to have high-level exchanges with the Philippines, to deepen the mutual trust, and promote the Belt and Road Initiative [in the Philippines] … to accelerate the development of regional infrastructure.”

Can China’s trade boost with Asean help get the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership over the line?

This year’s Asean forum was taking place as countries were more receptive to Chinese initiatives, in part due to the unpredictability of the US administration, according to Rajeev Ranjan Charturvedy, a visiting fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“Policy uncertainties under the Trump administration have already pushed some Asean countries towards China in ways that would have seemed unlikely a few years ago,” Charturvedy said.

Analysts said Trump’s “America first” approach shaped his Asean policy. The president had vowed to apply “punishments” to countries – including Asean member states – for contributing to the US trade deficit.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is talking to Asean counterparts at a time when they are receptive to China’s proposals, an analyst says. Photo: AFP
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is talking to Asean counterparts at a time when they are receptive to China’s proposals, an analyst says. Photo: AFP

Trump was absent at the Asean summit in Singapore last year, leading to concerns that Washington’s commitment to Asia was declining.

Charturvedy said the Asean forum’s focus was about building constructive regionalism, but China’s attitudes to security could pose a challenge.

“[However] Asean countries clearly hope not to be forced to choose between the US and Chinese offers. Rather, they would like more freedom of choice while accommodating for a larger role for China in the region,” he said.

Clarita Carlos, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines, suggested that Asean members would be pragmatic during the forum.

Robert Lighthizer warns Vietnam over trade deficit with US

They would try to find their own balance between the two major powers – as countries rather than a bloc – to try to maximise each state’s interests and advantages, Carlos said.

“Vietnam has a love-hate relationship with China, especially as a winner in the ongoing US-China trade war,” she said. “Singapore has close relations with China. There are also ups and downs in the relationship with China for Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.”

Source: SCMP

15/04/2019

China, Japan hold 5th high-level economic dialogue

CHINA-BEIJING-JAPAN-HIGH-LEVEL ECONOMIC DIALOGUE (CN)

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chairs the fifth high-level economic dialogue between China and Japan with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Beijing, capital of China, April 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday co-chaired the fifth high-level economic dialogue between China and Japan with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Beijing.

Hailing that China-Japan relations has returned to the right track and yielded new achievements by the joint efforts of the two countries’ leaders and people of all social circles, Wang said the fourth high-level economic dialogue, which was restarted after an eight-year hiatus last April, facilitated policy communication and pragmatic cooperation effectively.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, while Japan will enter the new era “Reiwa”, Wang said, adding that the two countries should uphold the major consensus reached by the two countries’ leaders and jointly construct bilateral economic relations to meet the needs of the new era.

The two sides should make steady headway in promoting bilateral investments and trade cooperation, jointly build the Belt and Road, and actively explore third party market cooperation as well as local cooperation, Wang said.

He also called for consolidating the cooperation results in such areas as energy conservation and environment protection, science and technology innovation, high-end manufacturing, finance, sharing economy, medical care and elderly care industries.

Wang said that China and Japan should make joint efforts to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, uphold a business environment of fairness, justice and non-discrimination, speed up negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement, and safeguard multilateralism and free trade regime.

Kono said that economic cooperation has been an important foundation and driving force for Japan-China relations.

Facing a global situation of intense uncertainty, the two sides should jointly safeguard the multilateral trade mechanism based on rules, he said.

During the dialogue, senior foreign affairs and economic officials of both countries exchanged views and achieved a series of consensus on macroeconomic policies, bilateral economic cooperation and exchanges, regional economic integration, and global economic governance.

Before the dialogue, Wang and Kono jointly attended the opening ceremony of the “China-Japan Youth Exchange Promotion Year.”

Source: Xinhua

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