A Japanese delegation led by former House of Representatives speaker Yohei Kono met Wednesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, with their talks aimed at helping stabilize bilateral relations, which remain precarious.
The meeting between Li and the group of some 80 members including Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki comes as bilateral ties have been strained over China's detention of a Japanese businessman in March and Tokyo's plan to shortly begin releasing treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, consisting of many business representatives, is on its first visit to China since April 2019.
Tamaki is separately scheduled Thursday to visit southeastern China's Fujian Province, which maintains friendly ties with Okinawa Prefecture based on the history of exchanges spanning more than 600 years, including the period of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which lasted until the 19th century.
