JITCO

Meetings with Counterparts in China

On January 28, 2010, JITCO officials visited Beijing for meetings with Chinese counterparts, the officials from the China State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) and the Sino-Japan Trainee Cooperation Organization of China (SJTCOC).

The purpose of the meetings was to review the Record of Discussions (R/D) signed between JITCO and the Chinese organizations before the revised Immigration Control and Recognition Act, which includes changes in the Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program, becomes effective in July this year.

The R/D confirms mutual cooperation between JITCO and governmental organizations of sending countries, aiming for sound development of the training program. The document confirms the understanding between JITCO and the counterpart organizations, which play a fundamental role in building cooperative relationship. In the meetings, both JITCO and the Chinese organizations exchanged opinions in how cooperation could be achieved under the new regulations.  The main focus was on the addition of the new status residence "Technical Internship" in the revised Immigration Control Act, which would require technical interns to engage in skills-acquiring activities under employment contracts at the accepting companies after completing group training courses.

At the Meetings

With SAFEA

With SJTCOC

Both SAFEA and SJTCOC expressed their interest in strengthening cooperative relationship with JITCO under the new system, assisting both sending and accepting sides through exchanging information and optimising program operations. The organizations agreed to sign the updated Record of Discussions after clarifying some details.

Prior to the meetings, on January 27, the Japanese Embassy in China organized explanatory sessions of the new training system. JITCO attended the session which targeted sending organizations affiliated with SAFEA and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Twenty officials from eight certified sending organizations attended the session for SAFEA, and 250 persons attended the session for the Ministry of Commerce. Representatives from the Japanese Ministries of Justice and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare provided the new system's overview at the explanatory sessions. Enthusiastic participants asked many questions, indicating the sending organizations' high interest in the revision of the program.