Japanese companies not leaving China: white paper

Japanese enterprises are optimistic about investment in China and they have not massively withdrawn from the Chinese market, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China said Wednesday.

According to a white paper released by the chamber, 40.1 percent of Japanese companies surveyed will "expand" their business in the Chinese market in the next one to two years, an increase of 2 percentage points compared with last year. The white paper interviewed 8,852 Japanese firms that seek growth in China.

About 7 percent of Japanese companies have chosen to "shrink, transfer or withdraw" from China during the same period, down 3.4 percentage points over the prior period, said the white paper.

About 64 percent of Japanese companies reported gains in the Chinese market in 2016, up 4 percentage points year-on-year, the white paper said.

"By and large, Japanese firms did not leave China," said Yoshihisa Tabata, vice chairman of the chamber.

However, he added, "Japanese enterprises hope that the Chinese government could simplify procedures for companies leaving China because if it is hard for them to withdraw from the market, Japanese companies will consider coming here more carefully."

As many Chinese companies are now "going global," Japan has a special responsibility to let those companies know about the Japanese investment environment and find business partners, Tabata told the Global Times.