While the United States and China have fallen into a phase of confrontation, Abe Shinzo made the first official visit to China by a Japanese prime minister in seven years. Rows of Japanese national flags displayed in Tiananmen Square symbolized the rapprochement between Japan and China. Although Abe only stayed in Beijing for a little more than 40 hours from the afternoon of the 25th of October to the morning of the 27th, he met the top three leaders of China, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, and Li Zhanshu, and dined separately with the top two. Over 400 business people accompanied the prime minister and signed 52 agreements with their Chinese counterparts on cooperating in third countries. There is no doubt that Japan-China relations are warming. But why is this so, and how far is this going to develop?

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