Japan, China Trade Ministers Chat Briefly at APEC

Suzhou, China, May 23 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s trade minister Ryosei Akazawa said Saturday that he had a brief conversation with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in China. Speaking at a press conference after a two-day meeting of trade ministers from the 21 APEC member economies in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, that ended on the day, Akazawa said that he went over to talk to Wang for a “brief” talk during an event on Friday night. This was believed to be the first meeting between Japanese and Chinese ministers since the bilateral ties soured last November. Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Iwao Horii, who accompanied Akazawa to China, also met with Wang to ask the Chinese side to implement measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in China following Tuesday’s knife attack at a restaurant in Shanghai that left two Japanese nationals injured. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks regarding a possible Taiwan contingency made in November 2025 drew China’s ire. While Hitoshi Kikawada, Japan’s minister for gender equality policy, attended an APEC-related meeting earlier this month in Shanghai, he did not hold talks with the Chinese side. Meanwhile, Akazawa and Horii both said that they did not engage with the Taiwanese side at the APEC meeting, likely out of consideration for Beijing. At the APEC meeting, the trade ministers adopted a joint statement saying, “We recognize that it is in our mutual interest that our region remains interconnected and trade corridors remain open.” The statement is believed to be aimed at realizing the normalization of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, currently under a de facto blockade following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. The APEC trade ministers’ meeting is held every spring. The outcome of the latest meeting is expected to be reflected in the upcoming APEC summit to be held this November in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]