China remains Japan's largest trading partner, with over 13,000 Japanese companies operating in the country. Iwaya emphasized Japan's desire to advance its relationship with China in a constructive manner and promote people-to-people exchanges to deepen mutual understanding.

Eyck Freymann is a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and Nonresident Research Fellow with the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College. Hugo Bromley is an Applied History Research Fellow at the Center for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge.

Less than 750 kilometres from Taiwan and home to nearly 30,000 US troops, the Japanese islands of Okinawa would play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan.

By bringing together their fifth-generation fighter jets for joint exercises, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. have sent a strong message about their commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific.

The trip gave the impression that Japan’s relations with China were on the mend. Iwaya indicated that Japan would be open to hosting a Japan-China-South Korea Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in early 2025,

China may be a step closer to reopening its doors to Japanese seafood imports after Beijing signalled it was keen to strengthen trade in food and agricultural products. Meeting his Japanese counterpart Taku Eto in Beijing on Friday,

On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term.

China is suffering from deflation, devaluation, capital flight and the loss of foreign investment — all at the same time. Unprecedented, far worse than "Japanification."

The first sign of improving Japan–China relations during the summit was the behaviour of the two leaders. Both Prime Minister Ishiba and President Xi appeared conciliatory in their public interactions. Xi’s cordial approach reflects China’s shift to smile diplomacy instead of its hard-line wolf warrior approach of the past.

China has rapidly surpassed Germany and Japan in industrial robotics, leading the world with 470 robots per 10,000 employees in 2023.

As China refines its strategy on the Indian Ocean island, it is posing a significant challenge to Japan’s long-held influence in Sri Lanka.

As Donald Trump re-enters the presidential office, the durability of these efforts will be tested, with his administration likely to reshape — though not entirely abandon — this critical partnership.