[talk] Open Your Gates to Asia: A Chinese Perspective of Japan

Yan Hao, President & CEO of EPS Co., Ltd.

Mr.Yan was born in Jiangsu province, China, in 1962. He matriculated at TianJing University in 1979, and then, came to Japan in 1981, as a Chinese governmental scholar. After completion of master course majoring in computer science, he entered into Ph.D. course at University of Tokyo, to major in Medical Informatics and Biostatistics. In 1991 when he was still a graduated student at University of Tokyo, he established EPSCo., Ltd. as one of a few CRO (Contract Research Organization) in Japan at that time. EPS listed on IPO at JASDAQ in 2001, becoming the first public CRO company in Japan.

Di Liu: A university lecture of Research Institute for International Area Economies of Waseda University

Di Liu served as a correspondent in Japan for 12years. He received his B.A. from Heilongjiang Universityin in his native city of Harbin. Mr. Liu obtained his M.A. from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and obtained his LLM andLLD.from Waseda University. He regulaly writes for "Huanqiu times (the People's Daily)" and other newspapers. He is the author of "Mass Media Law (Zhongguo fazhi Publishers, Peking,1998)" based on his researches in Waseda University.

Zhou Muzhi: Associate Professor of Tokyo Keizai UniversityBruce Stronach: Provost and Chief Operating Officer of Becker College

Zhou Muzhi is an associate professor of Tokyo Keizai University. After he worked as the Ministry of Machinery Industry of China (1985-88), he came to Japan to continue his studies. He earned his phD from the faculty of economics, Tokyo Keizai University in 1995. He worked as an senior economist in the International Development Center and participated in many research projects on drafting development policies for developing countries (1995-2002). His major publications include “Mechatronics Revolution and New International Specialization-Asia Industrializaiton in Today’s World Economy”.

While the stagnation of the Japanese economy persists, the economic growth of China is remarkable. Three men discussed the transition of Japan-China relations and the future course of Japan. They are Mr. Hao Yan (president and CEO of EPS Co.) who came to Japan as a student and has been active in Japan since then, Mr. Muzhi Zhou (associate professor of Tokyo Keizai University) and Mr. Di Liu (a university lecturer of Waseda University).

One can hardly discuss Chinese modernization without taking the relationship with Japan into account. Mr. Zhou looked back at the modernization projects which started in the form of “learning from Japan” including the Baoshan Steel Plant project in the late 1970s. However, because the Japanese policy was to export plants not to transfer technologies, China gradually strengthened its ties with western nations (Europe and the U.S.). Especially after the bubble economy ended in Japan, he pointed out that the Japanese model lost its sparkle, including the myth of the bureaucratic dominance of MITI. Mr. Liu, too, stressed that the assumption he had before coming to Japan as a student had completely changed by saying “high productivity is limited to a very few companies and administrative authorities have little efficiency”.

Nonetheless, Mr. Liu said that China did not necessarily make light of Japan. Mr. Zhou also acknowledged that the exchange of capital, people and information between the two countries was developing. He mentioned that one of the obstacles to such private exchange was the diplomatic disputes over so-called historical issues. Mr. Liu criticized Japan for not changing its ways of thinking and ideologies. Mr. Liu also stressed the necessity of changing the Japanese perception of being superior to other Asian countries, which has long taken root in Japan.

All three agreed on the direction of the future course that Japan should take. Japan needs to deepen its relationship with Asian countries through actively accepting capital and human resources from them. In order to do so, Japan needs to open its doors to them in terms of both systems and awareness. Mr. Liu made a specific request because “Japanese visa systems and perception are closed to foreigners and foreign students.” Although stagnated, the power of the Japanese economy is still at a high level with abundant financial resources. In order to utilize such resources, a proposition was made to establish a culturally rich society through accepting excellent manpower from around the world such as artists (Mr. Liu).