Consensus reached at 14th Beijing-Tokyo Forum

The 14th Beijing-Tokyo Forum, co-organized by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and the nonprofit Japanese think tank Genron NPO, concluded in the Japanese capital on Oct. 15 with issuance of the "Tokyo Consensus."

During the two-day forum, participants from political, economic, diplomatic, and media circles conducted practical exchanges and in-depth discussions focusing on the theme of "Deepening mutual trust and cooperation, sharing responsibility for peace and development in Asia and the world, and exploring the practical significance of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan."

Their opinions and suggestions showed profound insight and understanding of the continuous improvement and healthy development of China-Japan relations, resulting in wide consensus.

In the five sub-forums involving bilateral politics and diplomacy, economy and trade, security, media and special affairs, participants exchanged views on enhancing political mutual trust, developing cooperation in new industries, maintaining regional peace and stability, improving the public opinion environment, and exploring cooperation in the fields of low-carbon and digital economy.

At the closing ceremony, Han Zirong, secretary-general of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, Jiang Tao, senior vice president of the iFLYTEK Co. Ltd., Hirohide Yamaguchi, former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, and Hiroya Masuda, former internal affairs minister of Japan, delivered keynote speeches on behalf of the two countries.

A Chinese and Japanese representative from each of the five sub-forums were selected to make concluding remarks focusing on their group discussions.

As one of the positive results achieved, the "Tokyo Consensus" was jointly issued by the organizers. Both sides believed that peace and cooperative development should be the approach pursued by China and Japan in the Asian region, win-win cooperation should be a common goal, and both sides need to make more efforts to achieve the goals.

Both sides support the diplomatic efforts made for Pyongyang's abandonment of its nuclear programs and promote realization of this goal through peaceful means. China and Japan need to deepen cooperation to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to build a peace-based mechanism on the peninsula.

They also expressed a belief that, as the world's free trade environment is becoming increasingly severe and unilateralism has become a major threat to the world economy, China and Japan, based on their opposition to trade protectionism, should work together to safeguard a more open, rule-based free trade system and international cooperation focusing on multilateralism.

The two countries should strive to promote reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the reform of their own economic structures, seeking further bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation in East Asia, and greater trade, economic and capital exchanges.

Both sides believed the establishment and implementation of effective crisis management mechanisms are still inadequate in East Asia, and the danger of accidental conflicts still exists in the region.

Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the crisis management mechanism between China and Japan has been partially realized, but its level needs to be further enhanced, and regular consultations aimed at crisis prevention and control should be initiated as soon as possible to explore the establishment of more relevant mechanisms, they agreed.

The two sides reiterated that peace and development in East Asia and even throughout Asia need not only the joint efforts from experts and scholars, but also the broad support from the peoples of the two countries.

To create a bright future of Asia, the two countries should develop long-term plans, conduct extensive and rational discussions, and create a sound public opinion environment for intergovernmental diplomacy.

Following the closing ceremony, a joint press conference was held and representatives of both sides answered questions from various media outlets.