Boost to partnership

Given what was signed and agreed upon yesterday alone, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's two-day visit to China has been at once substantive and efficient.

The People's Bank of China confirmed that the Japanese government's application to invest in Chinese government bonds is currently being processed. That signals confidence that will resonate beyond the financial field.

There's no doubt that it is a substantial step forward for the internationalization of the yuan, because for the first time the Chinese currency will become part of the foreign exchange reserve of a developed economy. The endorsement by the world's second-largest foreign exchange reserve holder is an essential boost to that process. The new channel for bilateral collaboration is expected to benefit both sides in coping with international financial uncertainties.

Economic exchanges have remained the most vibrant mainstream of bilateral interactions, despite all the vicissitudes in the capricious political ties. That is why a phrase has been coined specifically for this particular relationship: zhengleng jingre, or literally "cold in politics, warm in economy". But these ties cannot always stay on separate tracks.

Noda's harvest from his visit will provide additional evidence that when the political climate warms up, economic interaction will get even warmer.

That economic exchanges have survived the frequent ebbs in political relations reveals a shared understanding between the two countries - they are mutually beneficial and indispensable for both. That is precisely what generations of the two countries' leaderships have expected from our overall relationship. Or there would not have been the common initiative to build it into a "strategic partnership of mutual benefit".