China Vows to Improve Business Conditions, Japan Top Lobby Says

China pledged to improve the operating environment for foreign firms, the head of Japan’s biggest business lobby said after a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, a sign of Beijing’s latest effort to lift sentiment.

“It was a meaningful meeting,” Masakazu Tokura, chairman of the Japan business federation known as Keidanren, told reporters in Beijing.

Li talked about the friendship between Japan and China, and said the Ministry of Commerce is leading efforts to improve business conditions, according to Tokura.

Beijing has embarked on a push in recent months to lure foreign investment back, with President Xi Jinping’s government pledging more “heart warming” steps, such as making it easier for foreign nationals to obtain visas and facilitating their access to financial and electronic payment services.

This comes as a measure of foreign investment into China turned negative in the third quarter of last year for the first time since at least 1998, adding to the challenges the economy faces, including slowing growth and deflation.

Japan is one of the biggest foreign investors in China and the group of about 200 Japanese executives is in Beijing this week to meet with Chinese leaders and officials to discuss economic relations. Japanese investment has slowed the last few years, with the pandemic, diplomatic tensions and the arrest of a Japanese businessman last year all contributing to the weakening of ties.

The Japanese delegation met with officials from the National Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday, and are scheduled to meet Commerce Minister Wang Wentao later on Thursday. The commerce ministry is making efforts to listen to foreign companies, Li told the Japanese delegation, according to Ken Kobayashi, another member of the delegation.