Nikkei Asian Review-

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	China up close December 13, 2019

	Xi moves right-hand  man to Japan affairs  as ties with West sour Chinese Vice President  Wang Qishan, the closes t aide to President Xi Jinping  and the former enforcer of the tough anti-corruption campaign,  has been tasked with a  new mandate: improving  ties with Japan. China has historically  turned to its relations  with Japan to escape a crisis.  After the 1989 Tiananmen  Square crackdown, China  moved to improve ties with  Japan to break its  international isolation. Wang's appearance at the  forefront of Japan diplomacy  could reflect the rough terrain  that Xi stands on, including  the potentially embarrassing  possibility that China may not  reach his predecessor's goal of doubling GDP and per capita  GDP by 2020. "China up close" is a weekly  column written by Nikkei senior  staff writer Katsuji Nakazawa  that analyzes today's events  through the lens of history   and offers a glimpse of what  happens behind the bamboo  curtain of Chinese politics. Read more here.
	Selected for you Xi Jinping set to make first state visit to Japan in April Mention of specific month comes with Abe security chief in Beijing Read more China's island builder has US embassy in Manila  surrounded China Harbour Engineering wins contract for 360-hectare reclamation project Read more China seen targeting 'around 6%' growth in 2020 Lower goal reflects slowdown from trade war and structural shifts Read more How China can set the record straight about its  GDP figures Admitting to bigger quarterly ups and downs could highlight need for policy action Read more Japan offers Southeast Asia way out of US-China  rivalry As a major regional investor and security partner, Tokyo is stepping up Read more US-China decoupling is more rhetoric than fact --  for now Technology barriers are going up, but economic relationship is deep and complex Read more China Inc's search for factories hits technological  wall in Cambodia US tariffs and threat of more put manufacturers in tight spot Read more Russian gas pipeline to China links Putin with  tough customer Moscow's energy diplomacy faces headwinds as buyer nations push back Read more US investor bids to keep China out of Philippine  shipyard Alliance with Australian shipbuilder has backing of local Navy Read more