Anti-Japan rallies dampen one-third of Japanese business plans in China
| May 12, 2005 | ||
| By AFP | ||
The recent violent anti-Japanese protests in China have made more than one-third of Japanese companies scrap or put off their plans to set up business in the country, according to a survey. The survey by Teikoku Databank, a private sector think tank, found that of 848 companies that had plans to begin operations in China, 275 or 34.6 percent of them had put their projects on hold and another seven firms dropped plans altogether. Fifty-four companies said they did not know what to do or withheld answers, it said. “The country risks of China have been pointed out repeatedly but those risks becoming real has had a larger than expected impact,” the think tank said in a report released late Wednesday. China saw successive weekends of protests last month, accusing Japan of failing to atone for its wartime aggression and to denounce its bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat. The demonstrations came despite China last year becoming the biggest trading partner of Japan, whose export-driven companies are drawn to China’s vast labor pool and growing middle class market. The think tank report quoted an apparel manufacturer as saying: “Unlike big companies which have pioneered (operations in China), smaller companies will likely take a wait-and-see stance for some time.” A wholesaler of industrial-use electrical machinery told Teikoku: “Given the (Chinese) government’s response, we will consider a shift to Vietnam where infrastructure is being built up.” China has refused Japanese demands to apologize for the protests although Japan said Wednesday that Beijing had agreed to compensate for damage caused. The demonstrations came after Japan approved a history textbook written by avowed nationalists who believe Tokyo is too apologetic for its past. The survey was undertaken from April 20-30, just days after the rallies, and surveyed 10,535 companies in all, of which 848 had plans to enter China. |
