Officials from China and Japan hold the fifth finance dialogue in Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Saturday. Photo: IC

The belated Fifth China-Japan Finance Dialogue was held in Beijing over the weekend, during which issues such as infrastructure cooperation in Asia and challenges in the global economy were discussed. 

The meeting was attended by Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, who is also Japan's deputy prime minister, and it represents a further sign of warming relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies, experts said on Sunday.

The ministers shared the common view that the dialogue is significant for both sides and contributes to a deepening exchange of macroeconomic and policy measures by the two countries, according to a joint statement released Saturday after the meeting.

Both sides also agreed that the global economy is still in a stage of profound structural adjustment, and expressed concerns about risks posed by volatile commodity prices and economic policy spillover from major developed economies, the statement said.

China and Japan held their first finance dialogue meeting in 2006 and the Fourth China-Japan Finance Dialogue was held in Tokyo in April 2012. The fifth dialogue was originally scheduled for 2013 in China, but the meeting was delayed due to soured bilateral relations amid historical and territorial disputes.

Prior to the finance talks on Saturday, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli met Aso on Friday, with cooperation being emphasized during the meeting.

Chen Fengying, a research fellow with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times Sunday that the restart of the finance dialogue between China and Japan is a sign that bilateral ties are warming. 

"An improvement in Sino-Japan relations not only benefits the economic development of the two countries - it is also of great significance to the growth of the whole of Asia," Chen noted.

Bilateral trade between China and Japan has been declining amid strained relations in recent years. In the first four months of this year, China's trade with Japan dropped 11 percent year-on-year to 554.7 billion yuan ($89.42 billion), according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

In 2014, Sino-Japanese bilateral trade dropped 1 percent on a yearly basis and in 2013, it dived by 5.1 percent, customs data showed.

Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, noted that tighter bilateral cooperation is crucial for both countries, especially for Japan.

"It is still uncertain whether [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's] 'Abenomics' can provide long-term power for the recovery of Japan's economy. Japan needs to find new driving forces for its recovery," Bai told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that the Chinese market is crucial to Japan.

But Bai further noted that economic cooperation between China and Japan still largely depends on political relations between the two countries.

During the Saturday meeting, Lou and Aso emphasized the need to enhance communication and said they would support cooperation in sectors like trade and investment.

The two finance ministers also agreed to hold the Sixth China-Japan Finance Dialogue in Tokyo next year, according to the joint statement.

The finance dialogue comes after improvements seen in bilateral relations between China and Japan. In November, President Xi Jinping and Abe held a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in Beijing. Prior to that, such high-level exchanges had been suspended for two years. In April, Xi met with Abe again on the sidelines of the Bandung Conference in Indonesia, a sign of a further thawing of tensions.

"The two countries should settle differences through communication and cooperation, instead of confrontation," Chen noted.

The two sides also agreed at the Saturday meeting to promote infrastructure development in Asia through coordination between financial institutions, according to the joint statement.

On May 21, Japan unveiled a plan to provide $110 billion in the next five years to aid infrastructure projects in Asia, via some of its state affiliated agencies and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in which Japan and the US have the largest stakes.

The move has been seen by many experts as a way to compete with the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), of which Japan is not a founding member.

Experts noted that the ADB and AIIB should cooperate to help improve infrastructure in Asia.

"The ADB and AIIB are complementary to each other, with the former focusing more on supporting the poor and the AIIB focusing more on infrastructure improvement," said Bai.