TOKYO — China and Japan agreed Tuesday to reopen the leader-level economic dialogue that had been suspended since 2019, with the first round of revived talks scheduled for July in Tokyo and a follow-up round provisionally scheduled for November in Beijing, both governments confirmed through parallel afternoon statements from their respective foreign ministries.

The agreement, reached through a sequence of senior-official consultations during the past three months and finalized in a meeting Monday between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of an Asian Development Bank gathering in Bangkok, restores the leader-level format that had been the principal substantive engagement track between the two governments during the post-2010 period before its suspension under the deteriorating bilateral conditions of the late 2010s.

A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, in a Tuesday-afternoon briefing at Iikura House in Tokyo, characterized the agreement as “the operational complement to the broader stabilization in the bilateral relationship over the past year” and indicated that the substantive agenda for the July round had been “extensively coordinated” through the working-level consultations during the past three months. The official said the July agenda would include economic-trade questions, supply-chain coordination, and a substantive review of the East China Sea operational arrangements.

A senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official, in a parallel Tuesday-evening Beijing statement, said the resumed dialogue would “support the substantive normalization of the bilateral economic relationship” and indicated that the substantive Chinese position on the resumed framework would emphasize “constructive engagement on the substantive questions of operational interest to both parties.” The Chinese statement did not address specific substantive provisions of the resumed framework.

The dialogue’s substantive scope is expected to cover four principal areas. The first is the bilateral trade relationship, including the substantive question of Japanese export-control alignment with the U.S.-led framework that has been a focal point of tension during the past two years. The second is the supply-chain coordination question, particularly with respect to the rare-earth and critical-minerals supply chains. The third is the East China Sea operational framework, including the substantive question of fisheries arrangements. The fourth is the broader regional economic architecture, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

A senior Japanese economic-affairs official, in a Tuesday-evening background briefing in Tokyo, said the dialogue’s substantive trade-focused agenda would be “carefully calibrated to address operational realities” without committing either government to substantive policy departures. The official emphasized that Japan’s substantive trade-policy framework — including its substantive alignment with U.S.-led export-control arrangements — would not be substantively modified through the dialogue’s substantive content.

The U.S. State Department, in a Tuesday-afternoon Washington statement, said the United States “welcomes substantive bilateral dialogue between key Asian economies” and indicated that the administration had been “informed in advance” of the substantive structure of the resumed framework. The statement said the United States would “continue to coordinate” with Japan on substantive policy questions of mutual interest.

A senior State Department official, in a Tuesday-afternoon background briefing for Washington reporters, said the U.S. position on the resumed dialogue had been “carefully discussed” with Japanese counterparts during the past three months and that the administration was “comfortable” with the substantive framework that had emerged. The official said the United States would not seek to influence the substantive content of specific dialogue rounds.

The South Korean foreign ministry, in a parallel Tuesday-evening Seoul statement, characterized the resumed dialogue as “consistent with the broader pattern” of stabilizing intra-regional relationships in Northeast Asia. The South Korean statement did not commit Seoul to specific substantive parallel arrangements but noted that the South Korean government had been “in dialogue with both parties” through the resumption process.

The substantive economic implications of the resumed dialogue are expected to be most consequential for the supply-chain coordination question. Japan’s substantive industrial-policy framework has been substantially recalibrated through the past three years toward reduced dependence on Chinese rare-earth and critical-minerals supplies, with substantive Japanese investments in alternative supply sources across Southeast Asia and Australia. The dialogue’s substantive engagement with the supply-chain question could address either the operational mechanics of the existing dependence or the substantive trajectory of the diversification framework.

A senior Japanese trade ministry official, in a Tuesday-evening background briefing, said the substantive Japanese position on the supply-chain dialogue would emphasize “operational predictability rather than substantive structural shifts” in the bilateral supply-chain relationship. The official noted that Japan’s substantive diversification framework would continue on its established trajectory regardless of the substantive content of the dialogue’s supply-chain elements.

Chinese trade officials, contacted Tuesday afternoon for background, said the substantive Chinese interest in the supply-chain dialogue would focus on “stable rules of operation” rather than on substantive concessions from the Japanese side. A senior Chinese trade-policy adviser, in a brief Tuesday-evening Beijing statement, said the substantive Chinese position would “support the substantive operational frameworks” that had been developed through the past three years.

The East China Sea fisheries arrangements have been a particular focus of substantive working-level consultations during the past three months. The previous bilateral fisheries framework had been substantially undermined through the post-2019 period, with substantive operational disputes between the two sides’ coast guards becoming more frequent through the period. The resumed dialogue is expected to substantively address the substantive question of restoring operational arrangements.

A senior Japanese coast-guard official, contacted Tuesday afternoon, said the coast guard’s substantive operational posture in the East China Sea would not be modified pending the dialogue’s substantive content but indicated that the coast guard would be substantively prepared to implement any substantive operational arrangements that emerge from the dialogue’s substantive direction.

The July dialogue round in Tokyo will be hosted at Iikura House on July 14-15, with substantive senior-official meetings scheduled for both days. The follow-up Beijing round in November will be hosted at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, with substantive parallel meetings scheduled across two days. The two governments have agreed to publish substantive joint statements following each round.

The substantive economic effects of the dialogue’s restoration will be assessed through subsequent substantive bilateral engagement, with substantive expectations for the framework’s medium-term trajectory remaining substantively dependent on the substantive content of the July round’s specific outcomes.