Greater Business Opportunities under Silk Road Initiative Symposium, sponsored by Dentons China, took place in the afternoon of July 18, 2018. With attendance of 150 businesses, more than 90 of which are Japanese and over 40 of which are Chinese, the symposium is a grand occasion that celebrates economic ties between China and Japan, and a platform for Chinese and Japanese companies to build direct connections. It is co-sponsored by the Japan East Asian Community Institute and organized by the Japanese law firm VeryBest. Partners from across Dentons China who have served Japanese legal needs were also widely engaged.   

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in mid-May and proposed to explore collaboration opportunities arising from the Belt and Road initiative between China and Japan, and carry out joint business development activities in third-party markets given the complementarity of the two economies and the untapped potential between the two countries. Therefore, the symposium has drawn wide attention from both Chinese and Japanese enterprises. Some big names that participated in the forum include: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, IBM (Japan), ChemChina, China Overseas Fisheries, Shandong Ruyi, ICBC (Tokyo branch), Bank of Communication (Tokyo branch), Air China (Japan), State Power Investment (Japan), Chinese Embassy in Japan, Japan-China Economic Association, the Association for the Promotion of International Trade and Culture (Japan), Hebei Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Association of Japanese Mirco-Businesses, Dalian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, and China Research Center of Mitsubishi Group.

The symposium was moderated by Kentaro Asano, a lawyer from Japanese law firm VeryBest, and opened by Yukio Hatoyama, now an advisor to Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and 93rd Prime Minister of Japan, who delivered a special speech titled “Belt and Road and East Asian Community”. The Japan East Asian Community Institute, founded and advocated by Mr. Hatoyama, has long been committed to the development and collaboration amongst countries in East Asian Community with Japan and China as the most prominent players. As the advisor to the AIIB, Mr. Hatoyama expressed his support for the Belt and Road Initiative launched by China and his hope in seeing China and Japan expand the depth and width of their relationship.

This symposium creates the biggest opportunity in the past decade or so for private Chinese and Japanese businesses to come together for dialogues. It is also the largest third-party forum on OBOR investment since leaders of Japan and China met in May. 

Jinquan Xiao, Dentons Global Vice-Chair and senior partner, delivered a speech entitled Complementary and Mutual benefits of Sino-Japanese Enterprises under OBOR initiative. Mr. Xiao delved into the current Japan’s and China’s economic reality, and shared his in-depth insight on how Japanese and Chinese businesses could achieve win-wins in collaboration on Belt and Road Construction Projects from infrastructure, manufacturing and commercial perspectives. He pointed out that as the global economic powers shift, the cooperation between China and Japan becomes particularly important. As such, the two countries should be partners, and work together and help each other in third-party investments.