Japanese business delegation’s China visit shows strong commitment to Chinese market: business leader

The ongoing visit of a large Japanese business delegation to China underscores Japanese firms' strong commitment to the Chinese market, a Japanese business leader told the Global Times on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a Chinese expert said that close cooperation between Chinese and Japanese businesses could help mitigate global economic uncertainties.

The delegation of about 200 members is on a six-day trip to China through Friday, Japanese news outlet Kyodo News reported. On Monday, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with the Japanese business delegation, during which he said that China continues to promote high-level opening-up and encourages Japanese companies to invest and develop in China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"The visit shows the strong interest and commitment of Japanese businesses to the Chinese economy and market, now and into the future," Osamu Onodera, chief representative for China and Northeast Asia of the Japan External Trade Organization, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Onodera said that the Chinese market remains a very important market for many Japanese companies, especially as China upgrades its industry and Chinese consumers' demand for quality goods and services diversifies.

According to the latest survey released by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China on February 12, more than half, or 58 percent, of the Japanese companies surveyed in China said that they plan to increase or maintain their investment in China, which is one of their most important markets globally.

Factors that contributed to their investment plans included growing demand, an improved business environment, a visa-free policy, and other government support measures such as trade-in policies, the chamber said.

"This visit by the Japanese business delegation to China is significant not only because of its large scale but also because it demonstrates Japanese firms' strong desire to strengthen ties with China across various industrial sectors," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Zhou said that it is hoped the China-Japan economic complementarity will be further strengthened. "Closer China-Japan economic and trade ties will help mitigate the uncertainties arising from the growing complexity of the global economic landscape," he said.

In a previous interview with the Global Times, Tetsuro Homma, executive vice president of Panasonic Holdings, who is also chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, said that China's GDP is four times that of Japan, with a population of 1.4 billion. "Japanese companies cannot and should not ignore the importance of the Chinese market in their global strategy," he said.

During the meeting on Monday, Chairman of the Japan Business Federation Masakazu Tokura, Chairman of Japan-China Economic Association Kosei Shindo, and Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ken Kobayashi said that the Japanese business community is willing to continue to expand investment in China and contribute to the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, according to Xinhua.