China and Japan held talks on establishing a consultation mechanism
for "orderly trade" in farm produce on Tuesday and Wednesday in
Beijing, said the Chinese foreign trade ministry.
"We talked over the consultation mechanism with Japanese officials
on Tuesday, and the China Chamber
of Commerce for Importers and Exporters of Foodstuffs, Native
Produce and Animal Byproducts (CCCFNA) carried on the meeting
on Wednesday," said Zhang Kening, vice-director general of the
foreign trade administration department of the Ministry of
Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC).
Zhang said the mechanism will be non-governmental and carried out
by the CCCFNA and the China Chamber of Commerce for Importers and
Exporters of Light Industry Products and Arts and Crafts
(CCCLA).
Under the mechanism, the two chambers of commerce are expected to
meet with their Japanese counterparts on bilateral trade of three
farm products: onions, mushrooms and tatami rushes.
"The mechanism is a general one, and any subjects that interest
both sides could be covered, including market demand and product
quality, quantity and pricing. But we are still at the starting
point and have yet to work it out," Zhang told China Daily in an
interview.
The mechanism was agreed upon by Chinese and Japanese foreign trade
ministers to solve their trade row over the three farm products on
December 21. It is expected to help prevent future trade friction
between the two countries from having a similarly damaging impact,
said Li Guanghui, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of
International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a MOFTEC think
tank.
Japan imposed temporary import curbs on imports of the three farm
products, mostly from China and valued at about US$150 million each
year, from April 23 to November 8, 2001.
China retaliated in June last year with 100 percent tariffs on
imports of cell phones, automobiles and air conditioners from
Japan, totaling about US$1 billion each year.
The two sides reached a last-ditch agreement on the dispute and
agreed to set up a consultation panel to explore and enhance
bilateral farm trade.
Officials from the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry traveled to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss timing
of the establishment and management of the panel.
But Zhang Kening said, "You cannot expect it (the mechanism) to be
formed in months. It takes time to persuade Japan to give up its
chronic high protection of the agriculture industry and become more
open to farm imports. It can take years."
He
said the mechanism is economically motivated because Japanese firms
invest heavily in China and sell back the three farm products to
Japan.
(China
Daily January 10, 2002)