Japan's finance minister Tanigaki to visit Beijing

Japan's Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday he will hold a first bilateral "financial dialogue" with his Chinese counterpart Jin Renqing in Beijing next week.

Photo: Japan's finance minister Tanigaki to visit Beijing

Japan's finance minister Tanigaki to visit Beijing

"We hope to exchange views on the outlook for the global economy and the regional economy," Tanigaki told reporters.

Tanigaki said the bilateral dialogue, to be held in Beijing on March 25-26, is meaningful because the two nations "share common challenges in economic and fiscal management."

Relations between Japan and China have remained strained over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo war shrine that honors war criminals among the 2.5 million war dead, as well as feud over the natural gas deposits in the East China Sea.

Japan and China agreed to create the bilateral financial dialogue framework when Tanigaki and Jin met on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe finance ministers meeting held in Tianjin, China, in June last year.

The two nations agreed to hold the bilateral talks on a regular basis to exchange views on the regional economy and promote cooperation on financial issues. The upcoming talks will be the first of its kind, reports the AP.

I.L.