Even while the Sino-Japanese relations have been soured by disputes, those Japanese enterprises that are competitive worldwide have never looked away from China.

China is the largest market for major durable goods such as automobiles, cellphones and computers. And a considerable part of products manufactured and consumed in China utilize accessories and raw materials provided by Japanese companies.

Besides, China always attaches a great deal of importance to acquiring advanced technology from Japan.

The close economic ties between Japan and China have resulted from the ongoing globalization process since the 1990s.

As China has kept an open system since it adopted the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, the country has effectively made use of the technologies and funding of foreign enterprises. In the meantime, it has worked to enhance its own competitiveness in exports, and translated this into the impetus for rapid economic growth.

In the past three decades, among overseas enterprises that made a significant contribution to boosting the high speed of Chinese economic development, Japanese companies played a particularly prominent role.

During the honeymoon period of the Sino-Japanese relations in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, Japan provided China with many important technologies and massive financial aid.

Since 2003 when China saw fast economic growth, Japan has ranked first for foreign direct investment in China almost every year.

In particular over the past three years, Japan's investment in the Chinese mainland has increased sharply, and is now twice that of the US and South Korea and three times that of Germany and the island of Taiwan.

Over the last three years, the relations between Japan and China have reached a new low due to island disputes and also Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine.

However, this hasn't discouraged Japanese enterprises from investing in China, as they highly value the vast market here.

In addition, rational Chinese governmental officials, including many at local levels, provided information and policy support to Japanese firms in China.

In this context, many companies have kept their faith in the economic cooperation that remains separated from political tensions.

Those competitive Japanese enterprises attach increasing importance to the Chinese market, and continue to introduce cutting edge technology to China, which can help China improve its technological level and export competitiveness.

Meanwhile, with a stable international balance of payment, China may see an increase in its domestic demand and hence an expansion of the domestic market, which is becoming more critical for Japanese business.

In such circumstances, China and Japan will become more interdependent, and develop a win-win relationship in the future.

But this kind of economic cooperation amid political tensions is not good enough for the two sides. To make larger contributions to the world, China and Japan have to improve their political ties.

The US used to not rely on the economic power of other countries in its recovery, since it dominated the global economy.

But now the US recovery has to be backed by the East Asian economic bloc, a fact that many Americans are clearly aware of.

Hence many Americans also hope to see improved ties between Japan and China.

Economic stability is an essential element for a country's political stability that will exert positive influence on its foreign relations.

Strengthening economic ties between Japan and China will contribute to promoting the East Asian economic bloc and maintaining global political and economic stability. The two countries should take a big step forward in this direction.

The author is research director of the Canon Institute for Global Studies in Tokyo. [email protected] 

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