Ex-official calls on China, Japan to repair bilateral ties

Beijing and Tokyo should work together to get their economic and trade ties back on track because the latest economic figures reflect sluggishness amid unresolved tensions, a former Chinese senior commerce official said on Tuesday.

The Sino-Japanese relationship is now at a crossroads, said Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the China International Economic and Exchange Center. Wei was speaking at a preliminary consultation meeting for the Ninth Beijing-Tokyo Forum, to be held in August.

Bilateral trade in January and February was $44.99 billion, a year-on-year decline of 8.2 percent, he said. China's exports to Japan were $22.71 billion, with a slight growth of 0.2 percent. But its imports from Japan were $22.28 billion, showing a sharp decline of 15.5 percent, said Wei, a former vice-minister of commerce.