Japan is poised to lead foreign investment in the next important phase of China's development, centered on Chongqing, an inland city whose name most outsiders have never heard.

The "Japan factor," hardly mentioned during China's 50th-birthday party and media binge recently, is about to get the attention it deserves.

The focus has been on United States-China relations because China's President Jiang Zemin is convinced that good relations with Washington are crucial to China's development.