The Japanese trade delegation itself shows that Japanese businesses are unwilling to lose China, a major trading partner, because of aggressive policies of Japanese authorities, China Daily commented.

According to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce, China has been Japan's largest trading partner since 2012, and Japan is China's fourth largest.

From January to July, Japan's investment in China recorded a year-on-year decrease of 45.4 percent. The drop of Japanese investment in China and bilateral trade could not be attributed to commercial acts, and instead is closely related to cooling economic relations between the two countries, according to Ikuta.

Ikuta said he saw the strong reform measures that China has made to adjust the domestic economic structure during the recent tour in China. He noted that, with the huge market potential, Japanese investors and enterprises have good chance to realize great development in China. He also added that he remains optimistic to the future prospect of Japan-China economic cooperation.

Ultimately, Ikuta concluded that only by improving bilateral ties can enterprises make a great stride in Japan-China economic relations.

Around the same time, the China-Japan High-Level Consultation on Maritime Affairs was held in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on September 23 and 24. Officials in charge of foreign, maritime and defense affairs from both sides exchanged views of reigning in disputes and carrying out cooperation on waters of the East China Sea. These were the first bilateral talks held by China and Japan since May 2012.

Both sides also agreed in principle to restart consultations on a maritime liaison mechanism between defense departments and hold a new round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, China's Foreign Ministry revealed.

Jia Qingguo, professor of international relations at Peking University, said that the two governments have to restart their dialogues over maritime affairs.

Over the last two years, conflicts between maritime enforcement ships of China and Japan have happened many times in waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands. However, Jia pointed out that the two countries hope diplomatic tensions do not lead to military conflict.

Da Zhigang, an expert on Japanese studies at China's Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, held that the new round of maritime negotiations show that the two sides are willing to improve bilateral ties.

"Despite the difficult obstacles, the two countries are not likely to see the tension affect other sectors such as economy during this time of weak global recovery. Many people have realized the importance of improving Sino-Japanese ties," Da said.

Tipping point

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting will be held in Beijing in November. Abe has said in many occasions that he hopes to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the meeting.

In response, Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, said, "Our position is clear and consistent. We believe what is pressing now is that Japan should show sincerity, take action, and make earnest efforts to remove the political obstacles that are impeding development of bilateral ties."

However, the Abe administration did not take any practical action to dispel China's concerns on historical issues and territorial disputes. Moreover, it recently announced to establish security troops of the Diaoyu Islands that Japan occupies.

"Japan's muscle-flexing can neither fool anyone nor solve the problem. We expect Japan to show sincerity and take practical actions to properly resolve the problem," Hua said.

Jia said that if Abe really was willing to talk with Chinese leader during the APEC summit, he must take positive actions soon.

Email us at: baishi@bjreview.com

Beijing-Tokyo Forum

The forum is an elite dialogue platform co-hosted by China's English newspaper China Daily and the Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO. It has been held in Beijing and Tokyo alternately for the 10th consecutive year since 2005. The annual event is dedicated to promoting mutual understanding between two countries and advancing Sino-Japanese ties.

Despite being a nongovernmental forum, it is attended by press leaders, veteran government officials and prominent scholars from China and Japan.

At meetings of the forum, attendees discuss current situations of Sino-Japanese relations and exchange their ideas for helping resolve problems and promoting a sound and stable development of bilateral ties.

Over the last 10 years, the Beijing-Tokyo Forum has produced momentum for both Chinese and Japanese nongovernmental groups to spread ideas of peace and cooperation and, it has also become an important supplement of the dialogue between the two governments.

(Compiled by Beijing Review)