Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie arrive at Haneda airport on APril 29, 2019, upon their return to Japan from a six-nation European and North American trip. (Kyodo)

Abe returns home from 6-nation European, North American tour

TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to Japan on Monday from a six-nation European and North American trip after getting assurances from his foreign counterparts that they will coordinate closely toward a Group of 20 summit in Osaka in June.
During his roughly weeklong tour, Abe called for joint efforts in addressing global challenges that are expected to dominate the Japan-hosted G-20 summit, ranging from promoting free trade and ensuring data governance in the age of e-commerce.

After visiting France, Italy, Belgium, Slovakia, the United States and Canada, he will prepare for ceremonies for the planned abdication of Emperor Akihito on Tuesday and his son Crown Prince Naruhito's ascent to the throne the following day.

China loomed large during his trip to Europe where Beijing is seeking to expand its influence under the "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative. In Italy, Abe and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte agreed during their talks on the need for high quality infrastructure that can achieve both economic growth and fiscal sustainability, after Rome became the first Group of Seven member to endorse the program.

In Brussels, Japan and the European Union reaffirmed they will promote free trade under an economic partnership agreement covering about a third of the world economy that took effect in February.

But trade was a sensitive issue during Abe's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as Tokyo and Washington have just launched bilateral negotiations for a trade agreement. Trump said the two countries can strike a deal by the time he travels to Japan in late May.

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190430/p2g/00m/0na/006000c