News analysis

Japan and China have 'different economic visions despite common free trade goal'

Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi meets with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on April 16, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS
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TOKYO - For all the talk about free trade and economic integration in the Asia Pacific, there is still one big missing link: China and Japan.

Mizuho Research Institute economist Junichi Sugawara pointed out that the world's second and third largest economies have not sealed any free trade deal - either bilateral or multilateral - between them and that there are ideological issues that set them apart.

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