Invest Japan Business Symposium (Beijing)

July 2015

In the organizer’s greeting at the beginning, CCPIT Chairman Jiang Zengwei stated that both trade promotion organizations CCPIT and JETRO wish to work together in supporting companies given the need to expand mutual investment between China and Japan.
In support of the Japanese government’s goal of expanding inward foreign direct investment—a vital pillar of the growth strategy within Abenomics—Yosuke Takagi, Japanese State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, used his special guest address to advocate investment into Japan, saying that the government wished to not only assist business in China for Japanese companies, but also business in Japan for Chinese companies. This was followed by Gao Yan, China’s Vice Minister of Commerce, who declared her anticipation of investment growth between Japan and China given her own government’s decision to promote entrance into the Japanese market by Chinese firms demonstrating potential.

Delivering the keynote speech, JETRO Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige stated that he has great expectations for the expansion of Chinese investment into Japan, given that China’s contribution to Japan’s total inward FDI stock does not exceed 0.5% and leaves significant room for growth. He continued that through the third arrow of Abenomics, the growth strategy, reformed regulations and structures are giving birth to new markets. Declaring that Japan, which has been pushing decreased corporate tax rates, is no longer a high-cost country, he called on firms considering investment into Japan to consult with JETRO first.
The main address was given by Li Guanghui, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, who expressed his own anticipation of increased investment into Japan from China while giving an explanation on the current state of FDI by Chinese companies.

In the second session, three Chinese companies operating in Japan took the podium and spoke on the sequence of events that brought them to Japan, current conditions in the local market and the advantages it possesses as an investment destination.
From Huawei Technologies Japan, which possesses a research and development facility in Yokohama, Wei Xinju, Managing Executive Officer and Director of Public Affairs & Communications Department, explained the significance of his company conducting R&D in the Japanese market, saying “Being able to meet the strict demands of Japanese costumers not only raises their level of satisfaction, it is also linked to raising one’s own company’s competitiveness from the perspective of product development and quality control.” He continued that “Chinese companies should learn much about Japan’s awareness and culture regarding quality.
Fu Luyong, General Manager of Laox (Shanghai) Trading, which records satisfactory sales in Japan given the increase of foreign tourists, said that the company would expand to 40 locations in the country. He also mentioned that Laox would develop to other Asian markets by utilizing the sales and administrative know-how accumulated in Japan. Makoto Shimada, CEO of Hengrui Medical Japan, talked about the attractiveness of the Japanese market by giving an overview of that for generic medical and pharmaceutical products, developments regarding the government and a comparison with the systems of the US and Europe.
In the third session, Takeo Nakagawa, Chairman and CEO of Finetech (Emeritus Professor of University of Tokyo), emphasized the advantages of Japan as the destination of R&D investment by indicating the existence of excellent engineers with development experience as well as business clusters which are home to potential partners for development. Subsequently, science and technology journalist Masaaki Maruyama gave his own views the current status and future potential of Japan’s R&D based on his long years of experience gathering information.
A number of questions came out from the floor at the Q&A session.