Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said he is pleased to see that Japan and China have more cooperation through third-party markets while calling on an open and transparent multilateral cooperation initiative.
Kono made the comments in an exclusive interview with CCTV during his two-day visit to Beijing.
On Sunday, Kono and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired the fifth high-level economic dialogue. The two countries reached consensus on strengthening ties covering issues ranging from trade and investment cooperation to regional economic integration and global economic governance.
When was asking the question on Japan's plan of participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, Kono said it is important to ensure the openness and transparency of such projects.
He said: "It is very important to implement such project in accordance with international rules and to make sure it is open, transparent and economical, and it also has to consider the financial soundness of the target countries. Such projects would bring profound implication on world economy."
China will hold the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation this month in Beijing, and Japan is expected to send officials to attend the event.
The two countries held a Third-Party Market Cooperation Forum when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited China last October, and businesses of the two countries signed a series of agreements on infrastructure initiatives in other countries. Among these deals, China Development Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation agreed to create a cooperation framework to provide joint loans when investing in infrastructure in third-country markets.
The Japanese foreign minister said the two countries signed 52 memorandums of cooperation and businesses from both sides have started to work on these projects and we are pleased to see such cooperation is growing.
The China-Japan relations have got back on the right track last year, as leaders of the two countries hold several meetings at international gatherings and Abe paid an official visit to Beijing.
When responding to a question on the prospect on the bilateral relations, Kono said President Xi Jinping will attend the G20 Osaka Summit, and the bilateral relationship have returned to the normal track. China and Japan are the world's second and third-largest economies, and the two countries shoulder responsibilities on regional and global issues, Kono said. The two sides need work more closely on issues including climate change and WTO reform, he added.
