Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed Friday to boost security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, Paralel.Az reports citing Kyodo News.

During their talks in Berlin, Kishida and Scholz also confirmed that their countries will create an economic security framework amid what they view as Chinese overproduction of electric vehicles and other key products using massive subsidies.

"It is important that allies and like-minded countries take a united response to the challenges in economic security," Kishida told a joint press conference with his German counterpart. Scholz also called for working together to reduce supply dependence on certain countries and regions.

As part of efforts to accelerate bilateral cooperation, the two leaders agreed to hold high-level intergovernmental talks in Germany, possibly next year, to grapple with a wide range of global and regional issues.

Kishida traveled to Germany after attending a NATO summit in Washington. In a speech during the meeting, he expressed "grave concern" about North Korea's deepening military cooperation with Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.