Researchers from Japan and China exchanged opinions on social challenges and bilateral cooperation in a forum held in Beijing on Sunday.
The forum for Japanese and Chinese researchers to hold dialogue to enhance friendship as well as human and cultural exchanges took place for the first time in Tokyo last year.
Sunday's session, jointly hosted by the Japan-China Friendship Center in Tokyo and a foundation under the Publicity Department at the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, was the second of its kind. It was held 10 days after a Chinese court handed down a prison sentence to a Japanese worker from Astellas Pharma of Japan after convicting him of espionage.
Participants, including Tomoki Kamo, professor from Japan's Keio University, exchanged opinions on social issues confronting Japan and China, such as declining birth rates and aging populations, and discussed how the two neighboring countries should cooperate.
"Academic exchanges between Japan and China are decreasing, a situation that will significantly affect the mutual understanding of Japanese and Chinese people," Yuji Miyamoto, chief of the Japan-China Friendship Center and former Japanese ambassador to China, said, underscoring the importance of dialogue.
It is necessary for China and Japan to work together even though they are competing with each other, a Chinese participant said.
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