• Register Email Updates

• >> Advanced Search
• Help

Overview of Japan-China Summit Meeting (Outline)

April 13, 2010
Japanese

On April 12, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan, had a meeting with Mr. Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, in Washington, D.C. for approximately 50 minutes from 4:20p.m. (local time), during a visit there for attending the Nuclear Security Summit. (participants on the Chinese side: Ling Jihua, director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC); Wang Huning, the director of Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee; Dai Bingguo, State Councilor; Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Zhang Ping, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission; Chen Deming, Minister of Commerce; and Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, and others; participants on the Japanese side: Yorihisa Matsuno, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and others).

1. Japan-China Relations

(1) Japan-China Relations in General, etc.

Both Prime Minister Hatoyama and President Hu spoke highly of the steady development of the overall relations between Japan and China as marked by the recent frequent exchange of visits between the two countries' leaders. They agreed to further strengthen the "Mutually Beneficial Relationship based on Common Strategic Interests" between Japan and China through top-level exchanges, with both of them referring to such forthcoming exchanges as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Japan scheduled for the first half of this year, Prime Minister Hatoyama's visit to China during the World Expo in Shanghai and President Hu's planned attendance at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Yokohama.
As an example of the increasingly frequent exchanges between the two countries, President Hu cited a Japanese proposal made late last year to invite Chinese youths, including media workers and social science researchers, to Japan, and he praised it as a "far-sighted and wise" proposal.

(2) Cooperation in East Asia

Prime Minister Hatoyama expressed Japan's wish to cooperate with China, the Republic of Korea, ASEAN members and other relevant countries with regard to the establishment of a proposed East Asia Community, and referred specifically to Japan's hope to exert leadership with China. President Hu stated that he pays high regard to Prime Minister Hatoyama's effort to promote a regional integration process in East Asia. He noted that Prime Minister Hatoyama's diplomacy of "yu-ai", or fraternity and his proposal to create an East Asia Community are in line with the vision of "harmonious Asia" and "harmonious world" that China is advocating, and expressed China's intention to promote cooperation with Japan in efforts toward a regional integration in terms of trade, finance, infrastructure, etc.

(3) Cooperation in the East China Sea

Prime Minister Hatoyama, while referring to a consensus between Japan and China on the idea of making the East China Sea a sea of "yu-ai", or fraternity, stated that there had been no progress on the natural resource development in the East China Sea and asked President Hu to give specific instructions to relevant organizations so as to enable an early start of negotiations over the conclusion of international agreements. Prime Minister Hatoyama also pointed out the need to create a bilateral mechanism for dealing with emergencies in the East China Sea by promoting cooperation in search and rescue operations in the event of maritime accidents and establishing maritime communication mechanisms between the defense authorities of the two countries.
President Hu noted China's argument that the East China Sea should be made a "sea of peace, cooperation and friendship" and stated that the bilateral agreement on this issue that was reached in 2008 is in accordance with the principle of promoting the "Mutually Beneficial Relationship based on Common Strategic Interests" as well as with the two countries' fundamental interests. He said China would attach importance to and abide by that agreement and stated that China would like to continue bilateral consultations about this issue and maintain cooperation in creating a favorable environment.

(4) Food Safety

Prime Minister Hatoyama praised the Chinese authorities' successful efforts to arrest the suspect in the dumping incident. He expressed his hope that further progress would be made in the investigation of the case through cooperation between the criminal justice authorities of the two countries, and stated his intention to have the Japan-China Food Safety Promotion Initiative signed by relevant cabinet members at an early date. President Hu responded by voicing his hope that the arrest of the suspect would have positive effects on the Japan-China relations.

2. Regional and Global Issues

(1) North Korea

Prime Minister Hatoyama commended China's diplomatic efforts to encourage North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks promptly. President Hu, noting China's continuing efforts in this respect, stated that China would aim for the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks through efforts by parties concerned.

(2) Climate Change, etc.

Prime Minister Hatoyama, referring to Japan's ambitious targets for CO2 emission reduction, voiced his hope that China would also strengthen efforts toward emission reduction, and stated that Japan would like to cooperate with China to bring COP16, to be held in Mexico this year to a success. President Hu expressed his hope that a comprehensive, balanced and binding outcome will be reached at COP16 , bearing in mind the mandate of the Bali Road Map, in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and based on the Kyoto Protocol. President Hu also expressed China's willingness to make efforts together with relevant countries in efforts toward this end.
In addition, President Hu said he would like to promote cooperation between China and Japan in such fields as energy conservation, environment protection, the realization of the low-carbon society and recycling-oriented economy, and green economy. Prime Minister Hatoyama responded by citing Japan's experience in overcoming environmental pollutions and its technological superiority in energy conservation, green economy, recycling-oriented society and clean coal-fired power generation, and expressed Japan's strong willingness to cooperate with China in significantly reducing CO2 emissions.

(End)