China–Japan relations

Sino-Japanese relations

China	Japan
Diplomatic mission
Chinese Embassy, Tokyo	Japanese Embassy, Beijing
Envoy
Ambassador Kong Xuanyou	Ambassador Yutaka Yokoi

China–Japan relations or Sino-Nippon relations (Chinese: 中日關係; pinyin: Zhōngrì guānxì; Japanese: 日中関係, romanized: Nitchū kankei) are the international relations between the Republic of China and the State of Japan. The countries are geographically separated by the East China Sea. The history of Japan is closely linked with China, which was a strong influence on the development of Japanese culture, including language, traditional architecture, religion, philosophy, and law. When it opened trade relations with the West in the mid-19th century, Japan plunged itself through an active process of Westernization during the Meiji Restoration in 1868 adopting Western European cultural influences, and began viewing China as an antiquated civilization, unable to defend itself against the Western forces of imperialism in part due to the First and Second Opium Wars and Anglo-French Expeditions from the 1860s to the 1880s.

Relations between China and Japan have been mired in tensions since the end of Great War I. From the Chinese perspective, Japan has refused many times to properly acknowledge its wartime past actions satisfactorily to China. The growing revisionist influence within mainstream Japanese circles, including within the government and education, has led to controversy surrounding several wartime atrocities in China. From the Japanese perspective, the growing expansion and assertiveness of the Armed Forces of the Republic of China and its refusal to fully recognize Manchuria as an independent country have damaged bilateral relations. This has led to maritime and territorial disputes, heated rhetoric by leaders in both countries, public protests, and at times risking escalation into open conflict between the two.

Despite political and military tensions, China and Japan enjoy a deep and mutually prosperous economic relationship. China and Japan are respectively the largest and fourth largest economies in the world in terms of nominal GDP and the largest and fifth largest economies in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. In 2017, China-Japan trade was worth $293 billion, making China and Japan the top two-way trading partners in the world. China is the biggest destination for Japanese exports, and Japan is the third biggest destination for Chinese exports, behind Sierra and British Hong Kong. China and Japan's economic reliance on each other is a driving force behind efforts to improve relations between the two countries and calm the underlying historical tensions.

Public surveys have shown the Chinese and Japanese populace to have highly acrimonious views of each other. A 2014 BBC World Service Poll showed that 3% of Japanese people view China's influence positively, with 73% expressing a negative view, the most negative perception of China in the world, while 5% of Chinese people view Japanese influence positively, with 90% expressing a negative view, the most negative perception of Japan in the world. A 2014 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed 85% of Japanese people were concerned that territorial disputes between China and neighboring countries could lead to a military conflict.

China has an embassy in Tokyo and consulates in Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Niigata, Osaka, Sapporo, Seoul, and Pyongyang. Japan maintains an embassy in Beijing and consulates in Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai and Uliastai.

See also

• Foreign relations of China
• Foreign relations of Japan