Not satisfied with one visit, Japan's trade group calls for another trip to China—Hua Chunying's response comes as a surprise

The Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade originally planned to send a large delegation of 50 people to China, led personally by then-President Yohei Kōno. However, after Kōno suddenly passed away on June 8, the delegation's visit to China was forced to be postponed.

To seize this hard-earned opportunity to visit China, Hashimoto Takeshi, serving as acting president, led a four-person team ahead of schedule.

From June 21 to 24, Hashimoto Takeshi and his team visited China, with their core agenda being an inspection of the fourth China International Supply Chain Expo held in Beijing.

This supply chain expo is a major event in the global supply chain sector. This year’s exhibition brought together over 670 enterprises and institutions from 85 countries and regions. After the exhibition concluded, the Japanese delegation seized the opportunity to hold talks with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying.

In a post-event interview, Hashimoto Takeshi said that this dialogue had helped establish a starting point for communication between China and Japan—something he considered a significant achievement.

Even more interestingly, Hashimoto Takeshi directly expressed his desire to visit China again during the meeting, and Hua Chunying promptly responded with a warm welcome.

The fact that an acting president of a private organization could sit face-to-face with China’s Deputy Foreign Minister already indicates that China has shown them considerable respect.

For Japan, Hashimoto Takeshi had previously made it clear: the mission of the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade is “to deepen economic and trade cooperation between Japan and China.” For Japan’s business community, visiting China isn’t a matter of “whether they want to,” but rather “whether they can.” With shrinking domestic markets and declining population, China represents a vital lifeline and key growth opportunity—especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868862231349324/

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