China-Japan Trade to Exceed US$130bn in 2005, Experts

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, August 18, 2003

China-Japan Trade to Exceed US$130bn in 2005, Experts

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The China-Japan trade surged by 36.1 percent year on year to 60.9 billion US dollars in the first six months of 2003, compared with 16.2 percent for 2002, and trade experts predicted the volume could exceed 130 billion US dollars by 2005.

Imports from Japan amounted to 33.8 billion US dollars in the January-June period this year, and exports rose to 27.1 billion US dollars, Chinese customs statistics showed.

Such a rapid growth is due in part to China's fulfillment of its commitment to the World Trade Organization to reduce tariffs, said Li Guanghui, deputy director of Asian and African studies of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the think-tank of Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Surging Japanese investment in China also contributed to the soaring trade by fueling Chinese exports to Japan, Li said.

Japan has remained China's largest trade partner and import source as well as third largest export market for 10 consecutive years.

According the Ministry of Commerce, Japan's foreign direct investment in China reached 2.76 billion US dollars in the first six months this year and Japanese-funded enterprises in China accounted for about half of Chinese exports to Japan.

The sales profit rate of Japanese-funded enterprises in China was about 50 percent higher than that of all the foreign-funded ones in China, said Zhao Jinping, deputy director of the Research Department of Foreign Economic Relations with the Development Research Center of the State Council.

China and Japan are "typically complementary developing and developed economies," which forges a huge potential and win-win solution in bilateral trade, Zhao said.

For the trade conflicts between China and Japan, Li Guanghui said fair competition and reducing trade discrimination are the best solutions.

Dialogue between the two governments and non-government forces will also lubricate the progress toward settlement, Li added.

Shuichiro Magata, minister of the Japanese Embassy in China, said in an interview with Xinhua that the two sides were preparing for the second talks in Tokyo under the bilateral trade consultation mechanism. The first round of talks was held in Beijing last October.

"With less political factors and trade protectionism, China-Japan trade could witness a much higher growth," Zhao said.

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