China and Japan Extend Their Feelers

Next week, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet in Beijing to discuss cooperation in the technology sector and IP.

An "Innovation and Intellectual Property Dialogue" is scheduled to begin this year. Abe is also taking part in a forum on cooperation between the two countries in third countries. The government-related Chinese publication Global Times already sees Thailand as a model country in which Japanese-Chinese cooperation could bear fruit. With Abe’s three-day visit to China, a rapprochement is emerging at the highest level that has already led to various agreements.

For example, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which both associations want to agree on common standards and provide for the exchange of engineers.

At the end of August, the Japanese CHAdeMO and the China Electricity Council agreed to jointly develop a standard for ultra-fast charging stations in order to establish a worldwide standard.

Apparently Japan does not want to let relations with China break off due to the increasing tensions between China and the USA. Masayoshi Son, the founder of Softbank, had warned some time ago - still under the impression of the ZTE dispute - against becoming too dependent on just one country. A view that Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, approves of.

Japan's industry could benefit from good relations. Especially in the field of artificial intelligence, which Masayoshi Son regards as the decisive technology of the future and around which he invests via Softbank and the Vision Fund in a worldwide network of IC manufacturers and service providers. For the development of AI systems, it is necessary to have access to as much data as possible for training purposes. In an individual country, so large amounts of such data are only available in China.. This is certainly interesting for Japanese companies.

In addition to the well-known heavyweights in China, numerous very agile and highly rated AI start-ups have emerged, and Japanese industry could also benefit from an exchange. Conversely, China could gain access to highly developed technologies in Japan.

Japan and China are also seeking an understanding in the military arena, where the relations between China and the US have also become tenser. Both countries have already established communication channels to avoid unintended clashes between their military units. High-level reciprocal military visits are planned for next year - the first in many years.

According to the Global Times, under the impression of American protectionism and unilateralism,  Chinese-Japanese cooperation is the only effective means of stabilizing not only Asia but the entire world.

At the moment, it can only be speculated specifically which agreements China and Japan will conclude and in which areas of technology cooperation will be implemented.