If Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time in a year later this week, he will likely raise the case of a detained company executive that has dealt an outsized blow to their close economic ties.
The employee of drugmaker Astellas Pharma, as well as other Japanese imprisoned or under criminal probes in China, would probably be among the topics to be discussed as plans take shape for the leaders to talk on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, sources familiar with the planning said.
The arrest of the well-connected veteran of the Japanese community in China has had what some Tokyo officials described as a considerable chilling effect on business, contributing to a drop in foreign investment to its lowest level since at least 2014 and accelerating an exodus of expats.