Trade official suggests closer Sino-Japanese economic ties

BEIJING - China and Japan should expand bilateral economic ties as they have broad prospects for cooperation, a senior trade official said Monday.

The Belt and Road can become a new platform for mutual benefit, said Jiang Zengwei, head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, at a Sino-Japanese entrepreneurs' dialogue held in Beijing.

China's efforts to build a higher-level open economy with measures to liberalize trade and investment will provide opportunities for countries including Japan, Jiang said.

"The Chinese and Japanese economies are highly complementary and have broad prospects for cooperation," he told the entrepreneurs.

He suggested stronger cooperation in areas such as new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, where Japan has advantages in technology and equipment.

China welcomes more Japanese firms to do business in the finance, insurance, health care, education, entertainment, tourism and old-age care, Jiang said.

He also advised Japanese companies to use their strength in high-end manufacturing, smart manufacturing and biotechnology to help China upgrade its industrial structure and integrate the two countries' industrial chains.

China and Japan saw bilateral trade rise 14.2 percent year-on-year to 1.67 trillion yuan ($252 billion) during the first 10 months of the year, accounting for 7.4 percent of China's total foreign trade, customs data showed.