December 03, 2008

Japan and China agree on shielding Asian economy

Kyodo News cited Mr Fukushiro Nukaga finance minister of Japan as saying that Japan and China agreed to protect Asia's economy from the slowdown in the United States economy and the global turmoil being caused by the supreme mortgage crisis.

Mr Nukaga told a press conference after talks with his Chinese counterpart Mr Xie Xuren in Tokyo that "We confirmed that exports from both Japan and China to the United States have declined due to the US deceleration."

Mr Nukaga said after the talks, which were held as part of the one day Japan-China Finance Dialogue "We agreed to share information and to cooperate to prevent the Asian economy from being negatively affected."

The two sides discussed a range of global and regional issues, including global warming, the yuan's exchange rate and regional currency swaps at the forum.

The meeting took place ahead of Mr Hu Jintao's president of China expected visit to Japan in May 2008.