Germany and Japan taking 'relations to a new level' says Kishida

Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor, left, and Fukio Kishida, Japan's prime minister, right, during a news conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, March 18, 2023. Japan and Germany vowed to deepen cooperation on defense and climate protection and work more closely together to reduce one-sided dependencies in critical areas such as raw materials. - Bloomberg

TOKYO, March 18 (dpa): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and several ministers met on Saturday in Tokyo and agreed to work together more closely during the first German-Japanese government consultations.

The talks are focusing on international cooperation, with Berlin looking to reduce its economic dependence on Chinese raw materials amid global supply chain tensions.