Foreign Ministers Agree on Economic Dialogue and Visa Waiver

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Takeshi Iwaya, had a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister. Wan Yi, in Beijing on December 25th. Iwaya offered deregulation of multiple entry visa for Chinese travelers to Japan, reflecting gradual improvement of bilateral relationship between Japan and China. Each government approaches each other to be ready for coming back of unpredictable president of the United States, Donald Trump.

It was the first time for Japanese foreign minister to visit China since April 2023. Both ministers confirmed Wan’s visit to Japan at the earliest appropriate timing in 2025 to have a minister-level economic dialogue. They also agreed on having a security dialogue between the officers in charge of security policies early next year. “China and Japan are neighbors. Once China-Japan relations are improved, situation in Asia is stabilized. Once Asia is stabilized, we will play more important role in international society,” said Wan.

Iwaya announced that Japan would resume visa waiver for Chinese travelers to Japan. Japan will newly introduce ten-year multiple entry visa for wealthy Chinese, expecting active consumption during their travel in Japan. The period for group tourists to stay in Japan will be extended from fifteen days to thirty days with tourist visa. China has already resumed visa waiver for short stay of Japanese travelers after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took the office in October.

Some problems between the two nations have not been resolved. Both governments reached an agreement last September that China would gradually lift the ban against importing seafoods from Japan. However, China has not taken any action for it. Iwaya urged implementation of the agreement. Wan stressed China’s standpoint against discharge of processed water from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and demanded Japan to comply with international obligation and promise with China.

Japan is still anxious about China’s advance to the Pacific Ocean. Iwaya referred to Japan’s serious concern about activities of Chinese military force in East China Sea and setting buoys in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Concerning murder of Japanese boy in Shenzhen in October, Iwaya urged further safety measures for protecting the Japanese people in China.

Japan and China have common cause to improve their bilateral relations. The President-elect Trump has announced that he would introduce extremely high tariff on Chinese products. His target for protecting U.S. trade does not exclude Japan. As Chinese economy shows decline, Chinese government seems to keep Japan as its trade partner. Japan also is preparing for negative impact from Trump 2.0 administration.

Both Japan and China hope that minister-level exchanges will lead to visits of top leaders each other. China’s economic slump and Ishiba’s low popularity may work as a driving force for improvement of those bilateral diplomacy.

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