Dear Japan, China asks, do you have any jobs for us?

Dear Japan, China asks, do you have any jobs for us?

For Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration, reining in the country's sharply rising youth unemployment rate is a top priority as the situation, if left unchecked, could lead to social unrest.
 
The desperate mission is shared by Chinese Communist Party officials in local governments; one senior official from an inland area recently approached an old friend in neighboring Japan for help.
 
"We want Japan to accept more technical intern trainees from my region, even by a bit," implored the official to his friend, who has ties in Japan's political circles.
 
Technical intern trainees refer to workers coming to Japan under a special program for on-the-job training. For years, China had been the top source, but as its own economy expanded, the number declined and Chinese trainees were overtaken by Vietnamese and Indonesians. But with few jobs at home, more could start turning to Japan again.
 
 

One problem is that this all comes with Sino-Japanese business ties showing strain following the official arrest in China of a Japanese executive of drugmaker Astellas Pharma's Chinese subsidiary.