This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on March 26, Tuesday.
Welcome to the CNBC Business Daily.
Japan and the European Union have agreed to start free trade talks in April.
Negotiations are expected to take 3 years, and the main sticking point will be on cars and food.
Japan has no import duty on cars from Europe but its European counterparts say Tokyo's non-tariff barriers such as safety and environmental standards still keep them out of the market.
Japan is the EU's seventh largest export market. For Japan, the EU ranks as its third-biggest market with shipments of $69 billion last year.
According to the European Commission, a FTA could add 1 percent to economic output for both sides.
[Sound on Tape Ed Rogers, CEO & CIO, Rogers Investment Advisors: Apart from the farming sector, Japan is very much a pro-free trade country. You think about the auto industry, the electronics industry, and really, you need to view this - the EU and the TPP - in the context of Abenomics. And the third pillar of Abenomics is, Abe-san promising to restructure the Japanese economy in the way it interfaces with the rest of the world. We've been waiting two decades for the renovation story, well here it is.]
But that's not the only trade deal Japan's new Prime Minister is eyeing.
Earlier this month Shinzo Abe expressed interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Member countries of the U.S.-led talks include, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Singapore, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand and Brunei.
We'll get more clarity on the negotiations when member countries meet on the sidelines of the APEC forum next month.
Japan also formally kicked off trade negotiations with China and South Korea today. Analysts say that the trilateral FTA is becoming increasingly important for Beijing as the US pushes ahead with trade initiatives in Asia.
The three nations together account for some 20% of global GDP.
Li Sixuan, from CNBC's Asia headquarters.