In 1970, Premier Zhou Enlai proposed four conditions for Japan-China trade (i.e., Zhou Enlai’s Four Conditions). Sumitomo Corporation was the only large general trading company to accept this condition at the time. The friendly relations between China and Japan that exist today, specifically for Sumitomo Group, can be traced back to the era 400 years ago. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, various companies affiliated to the Sumitomo Group inherited the Sumitomo tradition and actively participated in Sino-Japanese trade. Among them, Sumitomo Corporation dispatched permanent representatives to Beijing before other Japanese general trading companies resumed diplomatic relations between China and Japan. From the past 400 years ago to the present, China has always been one of the most important partners for Sumitomo. About 20 years before the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China (1955), Sumitomo Corporation began engaging in Japan-China trade activities through its direct subsidiary, Dahua Trading Co., Ltd. In the spring of 1972, six months before Japan and China resumed diplomatic relations, Sumitomo Corporation was the first to be recognized as a friendly trading company due to the above performance, and was the first among Japan's large general trading companies to start direct trade with China. Since then, our company has been actively engaged in Japan-China trade and investment activities as the largest trading company with China.

The products handled by the company in China have covered various fields such as steel, mechanical and electrical equipment, non-ferrous metals, chemical products, fuel, agricultural and aquatic products, fibers, and materials. Its transaction forms have also expanded from general import and export transactions to compensation trade, commissioned processing, joint ventures, cooperation and other diverse forms. It is really a hundred flowers blooming, everything is included.

Sumitomo Corporation is the backbone general trading company of the Sumitomo Group, one of Japan's three major economic groups covering various fields. At the same time, it integrates and coordinates with representative manufacturers and users in various industries. Since dispatching long-term personnel to Beijing, the company has been down-to-earth and expanded its business network in China year by year. It now has more than a dozen permanent offices in Beijing, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other places. Shanghai Sumitomo Corporation, a sole proprietorship trading company, has started operations.