China says its economy and Japan’s are interdependent, calls for more cooperation

China, Japan talks to strengthen economic ties

BEIJING — The economies of China and Japan are interdependent and their close cooperation has helped two-way trade rebound above the levels before the world financial crisis, a top Chinese economic official said Saturday.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan made the remarks to delegates from the two countries — the world’s second and third largest economies — who were meeting in Beijing to discuss ways to recover from the crisis and foster regional cooperation.

“The economies of both countries highly rely on each other. Economic and trade cooperation have been improved in a firm manner. Bilateral trade has recovered rapidly and has exceeded levels from before the financial crisis,” Wang said in opening the annual China-Japan economic dialogue.

He noted that China has “huge market potential” and that Beijing would strive to create a good environment for foreign investment.

Japanese officials said before the talks that they would push China to ease export controls on rare metals that are used in hybrid electric cars and other high-tech products.

The meeting comes after government statistics released earlier this month showed that China had surpassed Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth that puts overtaking the U.S. in reach within 10 years.

Japan is still far richer per person, and the news is more proof of the arrival of China, with 10 times Japan’s population, as a force that is altering the global balance of commercial, political and military power.

The two sides were also expected to discuss North Korea and its nuclear program. North Korea walked away from nuclear disarmament negotiations last year to protest international criticism of a long-range rocket launch.

The China-Japan talks are being chaired by Wang and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. The Japanese side also includes the country’s finance, trade and environment ministers, while the Chinese delegation includes Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and its finance and commerce ministers.

It is the third economic dialogue the two sides have held, following talks in June last year in Tokyo and a first round in December 2007 in Beijing.