The government will pursue cooperation with China over infrastructure development in other countries amid plans to increase support for projects related to the Belt and Road, a massive economic initiative promoted by Beijing.
Tokyo hopes to further facilitate the ongoing improvement in Japan-China relations as it seeks to increase business opportunities for Japanese companies. It is in the process of identifying joint projects with China based on such factors as the transparency.
A revised version of the government's basic policy on infrastructure exports, which was released earlier this month, referenced promoting cooperation with China for the first time. The inclusion follows an agreement between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in May in which they pledged to set up a joint committee comprised of both public and private sector officials to coordinate economic cooperation in third countries.
Abe plans to visit China as early as this year and convene a new forum attended by both public and private sector representatives. Through the forum, the government hopes to discuss the details of joint projects with China. Tokyo hopes to realize reciprocal visits between the leaders of Japan and China after achieving progress through talks.
Regarding foreign infrastructure development projects, Japan's strategy and China's Belt and Road initiative have often come into conflict. Japanese firms are losing ground to Chinese companies that compete at lower costs. In bidding for a 2015 high-speed railway project in Indonesia, for example, Japan lost out to China.
The Abe administration considers infrastructure exports to be a pillar of its growth strategy. It aims to boost foreign infrastructure orders received by Japanese companies to 30 trillion yen by 2020. However, the rate of increase has recently slowed. From 2014 to 2016 orders only rose by about 1 trillion yen per year.
Some Japanese companies welcome the government's more accommodating attitude toward China. "In the past, there hasn't been an atmosphere for cooperating with China, as we had to account for the government's hard-line stance against Beijing," an employee at a major trading company said, adding, "If we link up with China, we'll be able to expand our business opportunities."
However, China has been castigated for using the Belt and Road initiative as a means of deepening its hegemony. For example, Beijing provided massive loans for the construction of a port in Sri Lanka, before writing off the debt in exchange for the rights and interests to the port for 99 years. About 90 percent of projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative have been won by Chinese companies, prompting criticism that the initiative does not support local employment.
Some in the Liberal Democratic Party are cautious about economic cooperation between Japan and China. One LDP member voiced concerns that "Japan's advanced technology will flow out of the country."
There have been a number of cases in which orders received by China have not progressed as planned. In linking up with China, Japan runs the risk of compromising its policy of quality infrastructure, which has been praised by other countries.
The government has sought to fend off public criticism by presenting four conditions for cooperation: fiscal soundness, openness, transparency and economic efficiency.
In May, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry began asking major trading houses and other entities to submit joint projects with China. However, the prospects for the initiative appear unfavorable, with a Foreign Ministry official commenting, "It's not easy to find a project that meets the four conditions."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
.jpg?w=600)
