Technology-related imports to Japan from China hit record levels in the first half of the year as more Japanese high-tech firms shift production abroad to cut costs, a government agency said yesterday.
"An increasing number of Japan-based companies, both large and small, are producing in China and then importing products back to Japan because Chinese labour costs are much cheaper and also their skills are improving," said Hirotada Abe, spokesman for the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).
Imports to Japan from China in the six months to June grew 11.3 percent to US$28.11 billion from the same period last year while exports surged 15.3 percent to US$15.54 billion, JETRO said.
"Sino-Japanese trade has been expanding primarily in the form of processing trade by firms which have their production base in China," the government agency said in a report.
Machinery and equipment comprised 29.3 percent of total imports to Japan from China, surpassing textile products at 26.9 percent for the first time due to an expansion in trade in information technology products, it said.
Total trade between the pair jumped 12.7 percent in the first half from a year earlier to US$43.65 billion. Japan's trade deficit with China grew to US$12.57 billion, its second highest level ever.
A survey released Thursday further demonstrated the industrial shift taking place in Japan as companies search for ways to improve efficiency.
Half of Japanese manufacturers plan to boost the volume of products made abroad within the next three years, while 22.1 percent would reduce production at home, according to a a survey conducted by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc and Nikkei Research Inc.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last