Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a rare trip to China this week hoping improved relations will lead to new economic partnerships, as the two countries come under US pressure on trade.
The visit is the first by a Japanese Premier since 2011 and is part of a years-long process of repairing ties in the wake of a disastrous falling-out in 2012, when Tokyo ‘nationalised’ disputed islands claimed by Beijing.
The incident prompted anti-Japanese riots in China, and kicked off a frosty spell that has only gradually and recently begun to thaw.