Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will arrive in Beijing later this week for an official meeting with President Xi Jinping, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The talks are the first official state visit between the two countries in several years, but discussions will also focus on the contentious issue of China’s practices in the tech sector.
Despite softer rhetoric and efforts at repairing ties this year, tensions between Japan and China have re-emerged after Japan sympathised with the US view that China is stealing intellectual property and forcing foreign firms to transfer technology in an effort to accelerate its economic development.
“Japan has repeatedly pointed out to China problems such as intellectual property rights and excess capacity,” said Japanese Foreign Minister Tao Kono this week. “On various levels, we want China to respond properly.”
Another senior official has suggested isolating China from international markets was one option available to the global community.
Japan has followed countries such as Germany, the US and Australia in pursuing restrictive measures on Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE, which are attempting to gain an edge in key technologies such as 5G wireless networks.
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