Japan, China seek early economic talks, no date set

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday Japan would work with China to set the timing for high-level economic dialogue, but denied a newspaper report that the two countries were negotiating to hold the talks this month. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li keqiang, when they met in November in Seoul on the sidelines of a three-way summit of Japan, China and South Korea, agreed to hold the dialogue early this year.
"Arrangements will be made based on the (November) agreement, but I don't think it will take place this month," Kishida told reporters. Kishida's comment comes after Japan's Sankei daily reported that Tokyo and Beijing are in negotiations to hold the dialogue this month in Tokyo. The latest round of the dialogue took place in Beijing in August 2010, and ministers in charge of finance, foreign affairs, trade, agriculture and environment, among others, participated from Japan. The meeting comes as worries over China's economic slowdown roil global financial markets. The agenda is likely to include bilateral co-ordination on economic, environmental and trade affairs, the Sankei newspaper said.