Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi during their meeting in Beijing in April that he is willing to visit Japan, a source familiar with bilateral relations said Wednesday.
The two Asian neighbors have been exploring the possibility of Qin's Japan trip later this year as 2023 marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the 1978 bilateral Peace and Friendship Treaty, the source said.
Tokyo and Beijing are also considering resuming a bilateral high-level economic dialogue, last held in 2019, on the occasion of Qin's Japan visit, the source added.
The move apparently reflects Beijing's wariness over improving ties between Japan and South Korea potentially leading them to harden their stance on China in alignment with the United States.
If it materializes, it will be the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to Japan since Qin's predecessor Wang Yi traveled to the country in November 2020. Qin assumed the ministerial post last December.
During their meeting on April 2, Hayashi asked Qin to visit Japan and the Chinese minister expressed willingness to positively consider it, but the two countries refrained from publicly announcing that, according to the source.
The development is believed to mirror deteriorating public sentiment toward China in Japan following the detention in March of a senior employee of Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc. on suspicion of engaging in spying activities.
Qin's Japan visit could be arranged in the second half of this year as a Chinese diplomatic source said the situation is "not ideal right now."
Bilateral ties are expected to remain tense for some time, with the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima later this month, to be chaired by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, likely reaffirming the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Japan is also set to begin releasing treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant by this summer despite strong opposition from China, among other countries.
A Japanese government source said a high-level dialogue is "all the more necessary" between Tokyo and Beijing because they face many challenges.
In the next round of the economic dialogue, which was launched in 2007 but suspended in recent years due to the coronavirus pandemic, Japan is expected to convey its concerns over China's intellectual property protection and urge Beijing to lift its ban on food imports imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
China is believed to touch on Japan's tighter export controls for advanced chip manufacturing equipment, a measure seen as an effort to hinder Beijing's development of cutting-edge semiconductors that could be used for military purposes.
An apparent attempt by China to stabilize its relations with Japan comes amid rapid improvement of Tokyo-Seoul ties that had been strained over wartime labor compensation.
Beijing has also seen its relations with Seoul deteriorate recently after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed concern in an interview with Reuters last month over increased tensions around Taiwan amid pressure from China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its own.
China and South Korea last had a high-level contact in January with foreign ministers of the two countries holding telephone talks.
