JETRO Topics

Renewal of MOU for cooperation with the People’s Government of Hubei Province

August 2018

On August 30, JETRO Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige met with the governor of China’s Hubei Province, Wang Xiaodong, in Tokyo.

The province has grown thanks to the entry and expanded production of Japanese car makers as well as the development of companies related to the service industry such as retailers, and the numbers of Japanese companies and workers continue to increase.

This mission, comprised of approximately 100 members from business and government circles, was Governor Wang’s first to Japan.

Chairman Ishige made the following proposals as joint projects toward strengthening economic and business exchange between Hubei Province and Japan:

  1. Promoting exchange between companies
  2. Facilitating two-way investment
  3. Encouraging sophistication of the business environment

In addition to that, Chairman Ishige communicated requests from Japanese companies active in Hubei by presenting the “2018 White Paper on the Chinese Economy and Japanese Companies" to Governor Wang, which is a proposal jointly compiled by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China and JETRO for the Chinese government to improve the investment environment.

Governor Wang promised that his government will soon start meetings with Japanese companies active his province on a regular basis. He also emphasized that he will improve the business environment by swiftly solving problems.

After the meeting, Chairman Ishige and Governor Wang signed an MOU regarding cooperation between the Hubei Provincial Government and JETRO.

JETRO will take advantage of the renewal of this MOU to further expand cooperation with Hubei through enhancement of economic ties and promotion of industry between the province and Japan.

The following main activities have been agreed upon through the MOU:

  • The two parties shall conduct support aimed at mutual development toward expanding two-way trade and investment with the common understanding that each party is the partner of the other.
  • The two parties shall assist each other in promoting business exchange in the fields of new energy, environment and energy-saving, smart manufacturing, elderly needs and modern services.
  • The two parties shall work together in facilitating exchange of technologies possessed by SMEs and human resources between China and Japan. - The two parties will jointly promote projects related to intellectual property rights protection and assist each other in enlightening and educating people about the concept of intellectual property rights, as well as cultivating human resources in the field.
  • The two parties shall strengthen the framework to disseminate information in order to support two-way investment and trade by companies, and accordingly implement joint activities as needed, such as network meetings, seminars, business matching meetings and dispatch of trade investment missions.