Japan plans to send a mission to China to ask Beijing to retract punitive duties it recently slapped on Japanese imports in a bid to quell a festering trade dispute with its Asian neighbor, a senior Japanese diplomat said yesterday.
Vice Foreign Minister Yutaka Kawashima told a news conference that Tokyo was in talks with Beijing about sending a team comprised of officials from a number of ministries including the foreign and trade ministries.
Kawashima did not say whether the two countries had reached and agreement, but Kyodo news agency said Japan wanted to dispatch the team within this week.
"The imposition of special tariffs are extremely regrettable and we would like their retraction," Kawashima said.
Japan's relations with China, never easy at the best of times, have deteriorated over a trade row.
Last week, Beijing imposed 100 percent punitive duties on cars, mobile phones and air conditioners imported from Japan. The tariffs came in retaliation for duties Tokyo slapped on some Chinese farm goods in April to protect domestic farmers from a flood of cheap imports.
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