(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to strengthen communication at all levels during their first meeting since the Japanese leader took office in October.
Two countries share “a mutually beneficial strategic relationship and will build constructive and stable ties,” Ishiba told Xi during a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Peru.
Xi said the two countries should work together and “safeguard the smoothness and stability of the global free trade system and supply chain,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The Chinese leader has sought to position himself as the premier defender of international trade as US President-elect Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on the entire world. Xi held six meetings in Peru on Friday, mostly with key US allies and partners, and will hold talks with President Joe Biden on Saturday.
China is Japan’s biggest trading partner and also its top security concern, primarily because of Tokyo’s worries that Beijing’s military poses a threat to Japan’s southwest island chain. Japan also worries that it could be drawn into any conflict over Taiwan because of the island’s close proximity.
Japan’s close economic ties to China mean it is sometimes reluctant to follow the US lead over trade restrictions, particularly requests to end exports of some chip-making equipment. One fear in Tokyo is that Beijing might also retaliate over any further restrictions through actions such as limiting access to critical minerals that Japan needs for its own chip-making industry.
Ishiba told reporters after the meeting that he conveyed concerns of heightened activities by the People’s Liberation Army in the East China Sea, and that Xi pledged to ensure the safety of foreigners in his nation including Japanese citizens.
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo deteriorated this year after a Chinese military aircraft entered Japanese airspace in August for the first time and a Japanese schoolboy died in southern China after being stabbed in September. In July, a Japanese warship entered Chinese territorial waters.
Still, in a sign of efforts to thaw relations, China said it would move to end a ban on imports of Japanese seafood, a step taken in response to Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
After the US, China is Japan’s most important diplomatic relationship.
The meetings in Peru and Brazil mark Ishiba’s first diplomatic foray outside of Asia after becoming prime minister on Oct. 1. Although he has a long career in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including cabinet positions such as defense minister, Ishiba has limited diplomatic experience.
Ishiba, a self-confessed policy wonk on security matters, is an advocate of increased military spending amid threats from China and North Korea. During his campaign to become ruling party leader he raised the prospect of the creation of a NATO-like collective self-defense organization in the Asia-Pacific region.
--With assistance from Jing Li.
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