Chinese finance minister resumes talks with Japanese counterpart after three-year delay

Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso met in Beijing yesterday in a move that reopened talks for economic cooperation after more than a three-year delay due to tensions between the two countries.

The two finance leaders discussed cooperation on economic, financial and international affairs in the Fifth China-Japan Finance Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse complex, Xinhua reported.

The last dialogue was held in April, 2012 in Tokyo. The next meeting, scheduled for 2013 in Beijing was delayed amid tensions in the East China Sea.

Both sides yesterday also agreed to hold their sixth finance dialogue in Tokyo next year.

Jiang Lifeng, former director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that while contact between the two nations was increasing, it was too early to say if bilateral relations were improving.

"This was a finance discussion, but the state of Sino-Japanese relations depends largely on political and cultural discussions," Jiang said. "This meeting means that in the current political environment, it's the right time to push for cooperation."

A statement released later by Xinhua said "the ministers shared the common view that the dialogue is of important significance for both sides, which contributes to deepening exchange of the macroeconomic situation and policy measures of the two countries".