Japan issued its annual blue book on diplomacy on schedule - on April 1 - even though the country is still struggling to emerge from the devastating effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the threat of nuclear radiation they created.

The blue book shows the importance Japan attaches to diplomacy in its post-quake reconstruction. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto has pledged in the preface that he "would be devoted to diplomacy 'in order to overcome the difficult time and attain resurgence'" from what he calls "the greatest national crisis in the postwar period".

Although Matsumoto stops short of giving specifics, some political and opinion leaders from Japan and China took stock of the impact of the quake-tsunami-radiation (or triple disaster) on China-Japan relations at a meeting in Beijing on the same day that Japan issued its annual foreign policy statement. They met at the preparatory meeting for the 7th Beijing-Tokyo Forum, scheduled for late August. The forum is a platform for public diplomacy, organized by China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese nonprofit think tank.

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Without doubt, Japan's reconstruction task is enormous. Kenichi Matsumoto, special adviser to the Japanese Cabinet, said the post-quake construction was Japan's third "rebirth" - the first and second were after the Meiji Restoration and World War II - and welcomed suggestions from the Chinese participants.

The Chinese participants at the forum were forthcoming. Wei Jianguo, secretary-general of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a high-level business think tank, said China and Japan could use the opportunity to restructure their economic and trade partnership, and expand their cooperation in green industries, energy efficiency and between their small- and medium-scale businesses.

"Japan can take advantage of its advanced technologies in clean energy, new materials, bio-medicines, information, communications and equipment manufacturing to upgrade its business relations with China" and get a share of the large market in China's bourgeoning green industries, Wei said. After all, Japan has enjoyed favorable trade with China, its largest trading partner and export destination.

"There will be a lot of new opportunities because Japan's reconstruction coincides with China's drive for rebalancing its economy under the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015)," said Zhao Qizheng, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.