Local government leaders from Japan and China are actively interacting with each other even as state-level exchanges between the two Asian countries have come to a virtual standstill amid ongoing diplomatic tensions, including over Taiwan and China’s ban on seafood imports from Japan .
With both economies reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, regional leaders have called for mutual investments and stronger economic ties.
According to a Japanese source from China, about 60 governors and mayors from Japan visited China in the previous budget year, which ended in March. Visits to China by such prefecture and municipal heads became active around July last year and are expected to remain robust this year.
“China’s northeastern region is expected to grow in the coming years. We certainly want to capitalize on that momentum,” Hachiro Nitta, governor of Toyama Prefecture, said in an interview in Beijing last week. He spoke ahead of his visit to the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning, with which his prefecture has friendly ties.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki also made a trip to Fujian Province in July last year, and Fukui Governor Tatsuji Sugimoto visited Zhejiang Province from late October of the same year. The number of Chinese local government delegations to Japan has also increased since last year.
Bringing in investment from abroad is more important for regional Chinese governments facing declining local economies than for local governments in Japan because achieving high growth is considered a key criterion by which local top officials are judged by Beijing.
Late last month, Liaoning Communist Party Secretary Hao Peng visited Toyama and the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido to seek stronger economic cooperation.
