Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru holds his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping since taking office and confirms the promotion of ‘strategic reciprocity’.

S/Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru: My impression is that it was a very fruitful exchange of views. We would like to work with each other to reduce challenges and concerns and increase cooperation and collaboration. Prime Minister Ishiba, who visited Peru in conjunction with the APEC Summit, held his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.At the meeting, the two leaders confirmed the promotion of ‘strategic reciprocity’.

They also confirmed their previous agreement on the resumption of imports of Japanese seafood that was stopped over the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.No specific statement was made by President Xi on the timing of the resumption, but Prime Minister Ishiba said that the President's mention of it was very weighty.
Xi also mentioned the resumption of imports of Japanese beef and other products.During the meeting, Ishiba also referred to the murder of a Japanese boy in Shenzhen, China in September, and called for the safety of Japanese nationals in China.Xi responded by saying that he would ensure the safety of all foreign nationals, including those from Japan.A senior Foreign Ministry official recognized that certain results had been achieved, saying that the talks had been fruitful.

Meanwhile, a meeting between Ishiba and US President-elect Donald Trump was declined by the US side, saying it would be difficult to meet before the inauguration.Ishiba couldn’t meet with Trump during this visit to South America, with several Japanese government officials acknowledging it will be difficult to realize talks this time around.