Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will visit Beijing on Saturday, in the first visit of its kind since Dec. 2019.

During his two day visit, Hayashi will meet with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, the Japanese Foreign Ministry stated.

Last November, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit Bangkok and pledged to continue high-level contact.

Despite the mutual concerns between the two sides regarding the issue of armaments and military spending, China is Japan’s largest trading partner, as it accounts for about a fifth of its exports and almost a quarter of its imports, and it is also a major manufacturing base for Japanese companies.

Source: Qatar News Agency