Ishiba, Xi Reaffirm Strategic Mutually Beneficial Relationship; China’s Resumption of Imports of Japanese Marine Products Affirmed

By Akihisa Ota and Akiko Yoshinaga / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

17:37 JST, November 16, 2024

LIMA — Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Lima for the first time since taking office. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing a mutually beneficial relationship between Japan and China based on common strategic interests” by managing the countries’ outstanding issues and expanding their common interests.

They also agreed to steadily implement a September bilateral agreement aimed at resuming China’s imports of Japanese seafood products.

About a year had passed since a Japanese prime minister met face-to-face with Xi, the last being former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in November 2023. Ishiba’s meeting with Xi lasted approximately 35 minutes and coincided with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

At the outset of the meeting, Ishiba expressed his intention to promote the comprehensive advancement of the two countries’ mutually beneficial relationship and to build a constructive and stable partnership with China. Xi responded that he hopes to work with Ishiba to promote the long-term, stable development of China-Japan relations in the right direction.

In September, diplomatic authorities in Japan and China agreed to a resumption of China’s imports of Japanese marine products after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s monitoring of treated water discharged into the ocean from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was expanded.

After the meeting, Ishiba stressed to reporters that Xi himself referred to the September agreement, a development he called “very significant.” However, no specific timeline for resuming the imports was provided. The meeting also included discussions on resuming China’s imports of Japanese beef and expanding imports of Japanese rice.

Ishiba conveyed serious concerns to Xi in the meeting about China’s increased military activities, including an intrusion into Japanese airspace in August. He also raised an incident in which a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed to death in Shenzhen, China, and requested that the safety of Japanese nationals residing in China be ensured. According to the prime minister, Xi stated that China would ensure the safety of all foreigners, including Japanese citizens.

According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, Xi expressed his desire to build a constructive and stable relationship between China and Japan based on the shared understanding that the two countries are not threats to each other but that their relationship is cooperative, indicating his willingness to improve bilateral relations.