Apec Summit: Sanae Takaichi to visit China for first time since taking office

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will travel to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen next week, which will be her first trip to China since taking office, the Japanese government announced on Friday.

“Prime Minister Takaichi is scheduled to visit the Philippines and China from November 16 to 19 to participate in ASEAN-related summit meetings and the Apec summit,” said Japanese Deputy Government Secretary-General Masanao Osaki.

This visit to China will be his first since he took office in October 2025. It comes at a time of particularly high tensions between the two neighbors, since Sanae Takaichi suggested in November 2025 that Tokyo could intervene in the event of an attack on Taiwan, an island over which Beijing claims sovereignty.

Economic issues, a priority

At the Apec summit, Ms. Takaichi will discuss issues such as “trade and investments, regional economic integration, economic and energy resilience, the digital economy (...) and will present Japan's position on these subjects,” detailed Mr. Ozaki. Before that, she will travel to Manila for a meeting of the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Mr Ozaki said a meeting of the Quad, which would include the leaders of the four countries of this group of informal military and diplomatic cooperation - Australia, India, Japan and the United States - is being organized on the sidelines of Asean.