Japan Biz Leaders, China Officials Agree to Fight Protectionism

Beijing, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press)--Members of a Japanese business mission in China and high-ranking officials of the Chinese Commerce Ministry on Monday confirmed the need to fight protectionism. The mission is from the Japan-China Economic Association, whose head is Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. <5401> Chairman Shoji Muneoka. Akio Mimura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and supreme adviser to the association, expressed his hopes for progress on the issue of China's import restrictions on foods from Fukushima and nine other Japanese prefectures, imposed after the March 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan. Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying voiced his stance against protectionism, saying that extra tariffs imposed and planned by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump would pose serious damage to the growth of the global economy. Fu asked Japan to take the same position. Mimura stressed the need for the early conclusion of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade pact among 16 Asia-Pacific nations, including Japan and China. To counter anti-globalism, it is extremely important for Japan and China to take concrete steps to open up their markets, he said. At a meeting in Tokyo in May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to set up an expert panel on the food import restrictions. Mimura said he hopes that China will swiftly ease or lift the import restrictions on foods and feedstuffs from Fukushima and the nine prefectures--Miyagi, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, Niigata and Nagano. END