Japan, China Trade Ministers Chat Briefly at APEC

Suzhou, China, May 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan's trade minister Ryosei Akazawa said Saturday that he had a brief conversation with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in China.

Speaking at a press conference after a two-day meeting of trade ministers from the 21 APEC member economies in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, that ended on the day, Akazawa said that he went over to talk to Wang for a "brief" talk during an event on Friday night.

This was believed to be the first meeting between Japanese and Chinese ministers since the bilateral ties soured last November.

Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Iwao Horii, who accompanied Akazawa to China, also met with Wang to ask the Chinese side to implement measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in China following Tuesday's knife attack at a restaurant in Shanghai that left two Japanese nationals injured.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks regarding a possible Taiwan contingency made in November 2025 drew China's ire.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]