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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the Welcome Reception for the Japan-China Business Leader and Former High-Level Government Official Dialogue (Japan-China CEO Summit) held in Tokyo.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

“Good evening, everyone, my name is Shinzo Abe.

I would like to welcome our distinguished guests from China to Japan on this occasion, including Mr. Zeng Peiyan, Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

The Japan-China CEO Summit invites prominent executives from both Japan and China to gather together at the same venue to deepen exchanges. This Summit was made possible by the hard work of Chairman Peiyan and former Prime Minister Fukuda, and today the first meeting was held.

Japan and China maintain a truly inseparable relationship. Both countries have developed while deepening their mutual relations.

China is Japan’s largest trading partner and Japan is China’s third largest trading partner.

China imports materials and semifinished products that can only be made in Japan and then assembles them into products that are exported around the world. Some 23,000 Japanese companies have invested in China, producing 10,000 jobs locally. Our two countries have deepened exchanges with one another in various fields, including energy conservation, the environment, and culture, to name but a few.

The Government of Japan has consistently placed a great deal of value in Japan-China relations as China represents one of our most important bilateral relationships. In November 2014, I met with President Xi and confirmed that we would work to improve our bilateral relationship with the ‘Mutually Beneficial Relationship based on Common Strategic Interests’ as the foundation. Since then, various levels of dialogue and cooperation have been restarted between Japan and China, and overall signs point to the fact that our bilateral relationship is improving.

Japan and China represent the world’s third and second largest economies respectively. The growth of both countries, and strengthening economic collaboration, carries an important meaning for the economic growth of Asia and the world. I would like both Japan and China to take the lead in realizing the Japan-China-South Korea FTA and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an all-encompassing and high level.

Private sector companies in both countries represent the major actors in both economies. Recommendations from the private sector provide valuable perspectives for designing economic policies. I hear that on November 4, the Japan-China Economic Association, Keidanren, and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly visited China where they met with Premier Li and shared frank views about deepening economic relations between the two countries and other topics.

I believe organizing regular meetings between Japan and China’s business leaders is truly ground breaking.

On November 1, I met with Premier Li in Seoul where we jointly confirmed we will further strengthen exchange and cooperation between Japan and China in various fields, including business. For this reason, I am particularly pleased to have been invited to attend this reception tonight.

I hear that at this Summit you will holding discussions about many fields, including the service industry, manufacturing making use of IT, infrastructure, energy, resources and environmental protection, in addition to trade, investment and finance.

In closing, I pray that this Summit will be a success and I hope that mutual exchange between private sector companies of both countries will become more active, leading both to the further development of our bilateral relationship and our economies.”