TOKYO -- Japan is eager to cooperate with China's massive Belt and Road Initiative if Beijing can ensure fairness and transparency, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday, sensing an opportunity to shore up international norms as the Asian heavyweight's influence grows.

The infrastructure initiative "holds the potential to connect East and West as well as the diverse regions found in between," the prime minister said during a banquet at Nikkei Inc.'s annual International Conference on the Future of Asia. Beijing aims to create a vast sphere of economic influence in Asia, bound by a host of infrastructure projects, and Japan is "ready to extend cooperation" -- if China can meet three benchmarks.

First, "it is critical for infrastructure to be open to use by all, and to be developed through procurement that is transparent and fair," Abe said. Secondly, the projects must be economically viable. And lastly, nations borrowing funds in service of the effort must be able to repay their debts and not damage their finances in the process.

"I would expect" the initiative "will fully incorporate such a common frame of thinking, and come into harmony with the free and fair Trans-Pacific economic zone," Abe said.

Way in

The prime minister has long been leery of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Even now, the government does not intend to join the initiative in any proactive way. Rather, Abe's remarks indicate Tokyo will not prevent companies in Japan from participating in potentially lucrative infrastructure projects associated with the scheme.

This connection could be a way for Tokyo to nudge Beijing closer to international rules for infrastructure building. But it certainly "does not mean Japan will participate in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank," a Japanese official said.

Japan will continue to build its own regional economic influence through the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. "Unfortunately, the TPP has yet to come to fruition," Abe said. The U.S., a cornerstone of the pact, announced its withdrawal in January.

"I, however, will never give up," he continued, noting the first step would be to bring the agreement into force among the 11 remaining signatories.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership involving Japan, China and others including the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations could help extend the TPP's impact. Abe called the RCEP "our future goal," saying the deal "can become a high-quality agreement by building on the rules that came to fruition under the TPP."

Free trade finds itself at "a watershed moment," Abe said. "Will we be able to expand a free, open and fair economic zone going forward? Or will we make no progress for the time being?"

Global ambitions

Japan insists on the former. Through an ongoing economic dialogue with the U.S., "we intend to create a rules-oriented framework between us that will serve as a model for Asia and the Pacific," Abe said. Japan also hopes to reach an economic partnership agreement with the European Union "at an early time," he said.

"Asia's dynamism will link the Pacific and Eurasia," the prime minister said. "I believe this will become a dream shared in common by all the countries of Asia."

"In order to make that dream a reality, we will concentrate Japan's assistance on building high-quality infrastructure and fostering highly skilled human resources," Abe said. The former category includes partnerships on high-speed rail in India, hydropower plants in Laos and urban transport in Vietnam. On the latter front, Japan "will provide opportunities for Asian high school students studying Japanese to live in Japan for 10 months," to the tune of 1,000 students over the next five years, the prime minister said.

Japan's "recent economic indicators are improving," Abe noted, adding that "even as the population is decreasing, our [gross domestic product] has hit record levels." Cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and big-data analytics will help the country "overcome the challenges posed by its low birthrate and aging society and increase its dynamism going forward," he said. "Japan aims to be exhibit No. 1 proving that growth can be achieved through innovation, even if the population decreases."

(Nikkei)