MasashiIwanagaMasashiIwanaga,directoroftheBeijingofficeoftheJapan-ChinaEconomicAssociation(JCEA),watchedadocumentaryjointlyproducedbyNHK,Japan’spublicnationalbroadcastingassociation,andChinaCentralTelevision30yearsago.ItwascalledSilkRoad,andafterwatchingit,Iwanaga,thenjustahighschoolstudent,wasinspiredtotraveltoChina.Inpursuitofthisgoal,hebeganlearningChineseatuniversity.
HemadehisfirsttriptoChinabyboatin1987.“ThiswasthebeginningofmystorywithChina,”IwanagatoldBeijingReview.Hisaffiliationwiththecountryhascontinuedoverthepast30yearsandhiscurrentroleishisthirdpostinChina.JCEAhasmadesignificantcontributionstothestabledevelopmentoftheSinoJapaneseeconomicandtraderelationshipinrecentdecades,andIwanagahimselfhaswitnessedprofoundchangesinChinaaswellastheupsanddownsofeconomicandtradecooperationbetweenthetwocountries.
Acrucialrole
AsoneofsevenJapan-Chinafriendshipgroups,JCEAwasestablishedafterthenormalizationofbilateraldiplomaticrelationsin1972.Itspredecessor,theJapan-ChinaMemorandumTradeOffice,playedasignificantroleintherestorationofbilateralties.Afterfourdecadesofsteadydevelopment,JCEAhasbecomeawindowthroughwhichbilateraleconomicandtraderelationscanbeobserved,andalsofunctionsasaplatformforJapaneseenterprisestocommunicatewithChineseauthoritiesatalllevels,aswellasrelatedgroupsandcompanies.
AccordingtoIwanaga,nearly300largeJapaneseenterprisesaremembersoftheassociation,withitsmostvitalworktosendrepresentativesfromJapan’seconomiccirclestoChina.
“WesenddelegationstoChinaeveryyearevenwhenbilateraltiesareatalowlevelsoastoensurestableeconomicrelationsinthefuture,”saidIwanaga.“Lastyearwhensignsofimprovementbegantoappearinbilateralrelations,ourassociationdispatcheditslargestdelegationever,sending250peopletoChina.Thisplayedapartinacceleratingtherapprochementofthetwocountries.Thisyear,anewdelegationisexpectedtovisitChinainSeptember,”hesaid.
IwanagaalsoexpressedhisexpectationoverJapanesePrimeMinisterShinzoAbe’spotentialvisittoChina.“AbesaidthathewouldvisitChinathisyearandhopestohavepeoplefromJapan’seconomiccirclesaccompanyhim.Ourassociationiscommittedtoplayingacrucialrolealongsidethegovernmentatthattime.”
AtaregularpressconferenceonJuly5,China’sForeignAffairsMinistryspokespersonLuKangconfirmedthatChinahadinvitedAbetovisitataconvenienttimeforbothsides.
Foralongtime,theSino-Japaneserelationshipwascharacterizedbyhealthyeconomicexchangesbutcoldpoliticalinteractions,whichundoubtedlyhadanegativeimpactontrade.Butsincelastyear,signsthatbilateraltieshavebeenwarmingbegantoemerge.Thispositivetrendbecamemoreobviousthisyear,whichmarksthe40thanniversaryoftheChina-JapanTreatyofPeaceandFriendship,withtheresumptionoftheChina-JapanHigh-LevelEconomicDialoguefollowinganeight-yearhiatusandthewarmreceptionaffordedtoChinesePremierLiKeqiangduringhisofficialvisittoJapaninMay.
Thethawingofpoliticaltieshasbroughtnewlifetotheeconomyandtrade.AccordingtoIwanaga,Li’svisittoJapangeneratedagreatdealofenthusiasmamongChina’slocalgovernmentsandenterprises,manyofwhomhavedispatchedtheirdelegationstoJapaninthemonthssince.“JCEAalsoprovidedthemassistancewiththeirJapanvisits,andourworkloadsuddenlyincreased,”hesaid.
JapanhasalsobeguntoexpresspositivitytowardtheBeltandRoadInitiative.AberecentlypraisedtheinitiativeashavingthepotentialtolinkEastandWest,sayingthatheexpectedittocontributetoworldpeaceandprosperity,andexpressedJapan’swillingnesstocooperatewithChinaforthispurpose.
“UndertheBeltandRoadInitiative,JapanandChinacouldcooperateinthemarketofathirdcountry,”Iwanagasaid.“DuringLi’svisittoJapan,thetwocountriessignedamemorandumonthird-partycooperation,whichwaswellreceivedbyJapaneseenterprises,”henoted.
Iwanagaalsomentionedthatthetwocountriescouldstrengthencooperationinenergyandlogisticsbyjointlyestablishingnewenergyplantswithhigherefficiencythanthosecurrentlyavailable.WiththerapiddevelopmentoffreighttransportbetweenChinaandtheEuropeanUnion,Japaneseenterpriseshopetobeabletousethesetrainstotransporttheirowngoods,whichcouldincreaseJapan’stradevolumeandgenerateprofitsforChinaatthesametime.
JackMa(left),ExecutiveChairmanofAlibabaGroup,MasayoshiSon(center),ChairmanofSoftBank,andTerryGou,CEOofFoxconnTechnologyGroup,takeagroupphotowitharobotonJune18,2015,afterthethreecompaniesannouncedanagreementunderwhichAlibabaandFoxconnwouldeachinvest14.5billionJapaneseyen($130million)inSoftBankRoboticsHoldingsCorp.XINHUATwo-wayinvestment
ThelatestdatashowsthatJapaneseinvestmentinChinaamountedto$3.27billionin2017,up5.1percentyearonyearandreversingthedownwardtrendofthepriorfourconsecutiveyears.Iwanaganotedthatthefour-yeardeclinewascausedbytheexchangerateandthestructuraladjustmentoftheChineseeconomy.
“SinceChinaadoptedthereformandopening-uppolicyin1978,JapaneseinvestmentinChinahasmainlycenteredonmanufacturing,usingChina’sinexpensiveandefficientlaborforceforproductionbeforeexportingtotheworld.Chinagainedstatusastheworld’sfactoryatthistime,”Iwanagasaid.
“ButasChinahasbecomemoreaffluent,itslaborcostshaveincreased.China’seconomicstructurehasalsobeguntochangeandithasbecomethecenterofglobalconsumptionratherthantheworld’sfactory,”henoted.“Asaresult,Japan’spre-viousinvestmentmethodsarenolongerappropriateandmanyJapaneseenterpriseshavewithdrawnfromChinainthepastfourtofiveyears.Japanesecompaniesneedtimetoadapttothesechanges,”hesaid.
Statisticsshowthatfollowingthisperiodoftransition,manyJapanesecompanieshavebeguntoturntoChinaonceagain.AccordingtoasurveybytheJapanExternalTradeOrganization,40.1percentofJapaneseenterprisesinChinaintendedtoexpandtheirinvestmentinChinain2016,withthisnumberincreasingto48.3percentin2017.
AsChina’seconomicstrengthhasincreasedanditstechnologicalcapacityimproved,theshapeofbilateralinvestmenthaschangedwithJapanbecomingadestinationforChineseinvestmentaswell.
IwanagaalsosuggestedwhichareasshouldbethefocusofChineseinvestmentinJapan.“InvestmentintourismiswelcomeinJapanasitisnowmoreeagerthanevertoattracttourists,towhichChinahascontributedthemost.ChinesecompaniesknowbettertheexpectationsofChinesetourists,sobyinvestinginJapan’stourismindustry,theycanbetterprovidepositiveexperiencestoChinesevisitors.”
However,IwanaganotedthatJapaneseenterprisesandpeoplearecautiousaboutforeigninvestmentandthatitisimportanttofirstestablishtrust.“ThisisimportantandIhopeChinesecompaniescansurmountthisobstacleandincreasetheirinvestmentinJapan,”headded.
Inthe30yearssincehefirstbecameinvolvedwithChina,Iwanagahasnotonlywitnessedthetwistsandturnsofeconomicandtraderelations,butalsoexperiencedfirsthandChina’sprogresssinceadoptingthereformandopening-uppolicyin1978.
IwanagastruckanostalgictonerecallingChinainthe1980s.“Chinainthe1980sleftapositiveimpressiononme.Itwasnotabundantinmaterialthingsbutrichinspiritualwealth,fullofexpectationforitsdevelopmentandanenergeticsociety.ChinaandJapanenjoyedagoodrelationshipthen,”hesaid.
“Afterimplementingthereformandopening-uppolicy,Chinasawgreatchangesandrapiddevelopment,”headded.“TheChinesepeoplehavebecomebetteroffeconomically.Beijing’sstreetshavebecomecleanandbeautiful,withmoreskyscrapersbeingbuiltallthetime.”
CopyeditedbyLaurenceCoultonCommentsto