China, Japan resume economic talks after 8-year hiatus

TOKYO — China and Japan resumed high-level economic talks Monday after a hiatus of nearly eight years in a sign of improving ties in their often-frosty relationship.

Led by their foreign ministers, the two sides met in Tokyo for what was billed as the fourth Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue, and the first one since August 2010.

Asia’s two largest economies have reason to co-operate in the face of President Donald Trump’s moves to impose tariffs on imports from their countries and his demands that they open their markets more to American exports.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is heading to the United States this week to meet Trump to discuss both trade and Trump’s plans for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Japan is the first by a Chinese foreign minister for bilateral talks since 2009.

He met with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono for nearly four hours on Sunday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. The two ministers agreed on the importance of arranging respective visits by Abe to China and Xi to Japan.