Japan called for “transparent policies” governing workers in China, saying labor disputes that halted operations at dozens of factories this year were troubling to Japanese companies.
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada brought up the issue at a high-level economic meeting between China and Japan — the world’s second and third-largest economies — to discuss ways to recover from the economic crisis and foster regional cooperation.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) met the Japanese delegation yesterday.
“At the request of Japanese enterprises in China, we discussed ensuring transparent policies” during talks on how to improve the business environment in China, Okada said on Saturday. “As to the recent frequent labor dispute issue, the Japanese side expressed willingness to further strengthen discussion.”
The widespread strikes were rare for China but the government permitted them, apparently trying to put more money in workers’ pockets as part of efforts to boost consumer spending.
The Chinese delegation at the meeting said the strikes were to be expected because wages had been frozen for two years to help companies ride out the economic crisis, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Satoru Sato told reporters at a briefing late on Saturday.
The Japanese were “not so satisfied with this explanation, we still think this is very important to Japanese companies operating here,” he said.
They also urged China to ease export controls on rare metals used in computers, hybrid electric cars and other high-tech products.
“These limitations are affecting the global production chain,” Sato said.
China’s restrictions on exports of rare earths were necessary for environmental protection, Commerce Minister Chen Deming (陳德銘) said, according to Xinhua news agency.
Vice Premier Wang Qishan (王岐山), who led the Chinese delegation, said the economies of the two counties are interdependent and China has “huge market potential.”
“The economies of both countries highly rely on each other,” Wang said. “Economic and trade cooperation have been improved in a firm manner ... Bilateral trade has recovered rapidly and has exceeded levels from before the financial crisis.”
This was the third high-level economic dialogue between the two sides. Discussion topics also included cooperation in high-end manufacturing, energy conservation, environmental protection, food safety and opposition to protectionism, Wang said.
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