Chinese exports to Japan have also been marking strong annual increases between 7.4 percent during the March-May interval — a vigorous pickup after a 12.4 percent decline in 2016.
Unrelenting pleadings by Japanese business circles for better, friendlier and more productive Sino-Japanese relations over the last four years are apparently bearing fruit. The Chinese have also decided to play along because they can get from Japan the technologies they need to create what they call an "innovation-driven" economy in order to boost productivity and business profits. That, China believes, will help to avoid the dreaded "middle-income trap" of developing economies.
Remarkably, the Japanese have also succeeded in turning the trade tide with South Korea. After a 6 percent decline in 2016, Japanese exports to South Korea were growing at a strong, 21.5 percent annual rate during the January-May period of this year. Over the same interval, the Korean sales to Japan have rebounded with an annual gain of 16 percent — after a 16.1 percent drop for all of 2016.
South Korea`s export trade with China is booming, too, despite complaints that Beijing was cutting off business and "punishing" the Koreans for allowing the installation on their soil of an American missile shield that appeared threatening to China (and Russia).
China is still Seoul`s most important trade partner by far. Beijing takes 25 percent of South Korean exports, compared with 12 percent for the U. In the first five months of this year, sales to China rose 14 percent — a sharp pickup from a 9.3 percent decline in the course of 2016.
Now, this booming Northeast Asian trade comes at a time when (a) China is asking Tokyo and Seoul to get on their best behavior and respect Beijing`s core interests and (b) Japan and South Korea are failing to resolve their long-standing disputes during a summit meeting in Germany.
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