New Year celebration held in Osaka to smooth grassroots ties between Japan, China

A New Year celebration event for Japan and China was held in central Osaka City on Friday afternoon, attracting about 300 local political figures as well as business leaders from manufacturers, trading houses, travel agencies and other companies based in the city and the surrounding Kansai region.

The celebratory gathering was organized by the Japan-China Economic Relations and Trade Center (JCERTC) and the Japan-China Friendship Association of Osaka, with the aim of smoothing grassroots ties between Japan and China while celebrating the New Year.

Presiding over the opening of the party, Atsushi Murayama, president of the JCERTC, told attendees that although political tensions between the two countries have risen due to some diplomatic issues, the peoples of both countries now must be instead implementing new economic and cultural approaches.

"Considering the recent commercial ties between China and Japan, geographically located near each other and ranking as the world's second and third largest economy, respectively, we cannot always avoid talking to each other," Murayama said.

After his speech, Vice Consul-General of the Chinese Consulate- General in Osaka Yu Shuyuan also delivered a speech in which she stated that the two countries need to cool diplomatic tensions while promoting confidence-building measures on all levels, as well as to jointly contribute to the growth of the Chinese and Japanese economies. She also said the event would be a good place to start.