China's BRI is essential for Asia's development: Japanese expert

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday. Exploring new momentum for economic and trade cooperation was high on the agenda.

Last year, Abe made a conditional pledge of cooperation on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and during this week’s meeting, both sides emphasized the importance of this initiative as a new growth point for bilateral cooperation.

Dr. Naoyuki Yoshino, dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute, said that the BRI was very important for the development of Asia with infrastructure investment as the key. But he added that the “construction of infrastructure itself is not important.”

One should be clear of where the infrastructure is focused on, either the manufacturing, agricultural or the service sectors. BRI is a good plan, but the purpose of infrastructure building would be different from region to region, he said.

Responding to the positive remarks from Japan, Wang Yi said China is willing to discuss with Japan the proper and concrete ways for it to participate in the initiative.

Japan has a strong track record in infrastructure building in Asia where diversity in terms of language, religion and culture cannot be underestimated, said Xu Sitao, chief economist at Deloitte China.

Xu is optimistic about the potential of China-Japan cooperation in this regard.

But Xu warns that “the requests from developed countries regarding BRI is for China to perhaps slightly weaken the role of state-owned companies. So that the projects could be more inclusive.” If Japanese private companies can be involved in the infrastructure building, the geopolitical risks could be mitigated, he added.

Japanese people also use Chinese characters, and the two countries have very close connections. Dr. Yoshino said both sides should not antagonize each other. Friendly relations between Japan and China in both short and long terms will “create great stability in the region.”

One successful example is a motorway project in Pakistan, cited by Dr. Naoyuki; it was a joint venture by the Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Japan and China could cooperate in different international institutions, he said.

(CGTN)