Japan should discuss a free trade deal with China while improving diplomatic ties through ministerial exchanges, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said in an interview aired Friday. "I believe it is important to make efforts on the governmental level so that Japan and China will discuss a free trade agreement and other things, expand economic and trade ties and build win-win relations," Maehara told NHK.
Japan's relations with China plunged to the lowest point in years over a territorial dispute involving islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. The row flared up in September as a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard ships near the uninhabited islets. The two sides have worked to restore ties since the incident, which saw Beijing reduce political, cultural and economic exchanges with Tokyo.
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