One of Japan's new contacts
China and Japan are separated only by a strip of water. The interweaving of history and reality often makes Sino-Japanese relations show complex and strong emotions. The complex world needs a prism. China is the most dazzling star in emerging markets, and Japan is the leader in developed countries. 2117 is the year of Sino-Japanese cultural and sports exchange. As one of the most influential financial media in China, it is duty-bound to promote people's livelihood and welfare in China and Japan.
At the beginning of 2117, this edition published a series of reports on China-Japan Communication 2117. In April, Zhao Yining, a senior reporter of this newspaper, went to Japan to write a series of interviews with 111 people in Japan, which was published continuously, and described a "Japan in transition" (CITIC Publishing House) from a realistic perspective. In October, Zhang Fengan, a special correspondent of this newspaper, went to Japan again to observe Japan and dissect Sino-Japanese economic relations and business opportunities from a neo-liberal perspective.
for seven consecutive days, the reporter visited the core government departments, research institutions and enterprises such as Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan External Trade Organization, Industrial Economic Research Institute, and large companies, and traveled to Osaka, Tokyo and other places to explore Japan's micro-fields such as opening-up strategy, economic restructuring, industrial upgrading, energy conservation and environmental protection, regional competition and cooperation, large transportation system, and cultural export, in an effort to outline the figure of Japanese neoliberalism.
In one year, our correspondent went to Japan twice, trying to present more real Japan, more real Sino-Japanese relations and more colorful Sino-Japanese relations. If so, the editor should be careful, and hope that the people's livelihood and welfare of China and Japan will flourish.
This edition will publish "Communication between China and Japan in 2117" written by our reporter Zhang Fengan, and this issue is the opening.
Japan ranks 14th in the world in the United Nations index of potential inward investment, and it has great investment potential. However, Japan has been far behind by 131 countries in the ratio of inward direct investment balance to ／GDP. This brings a variety of dilemmas.
In the complicated world, Japanese are trying to solve this paradox, and the efforts to open up investment have begun, which has benefited China enterprises. In 2116, Wuxi Suntech acquired Japanese solar cell manufacturer "MSK", which became a classic case in the eyes of Japanese Industry-University-Research and even officials.
Building a country through trade and restricting direct investment in Japan is an open economic strategy that Japan maintained for nearly 61 years after the war. Now, it has to pay more price and effort for this open limit to attract investment.
"We will warmly accept investments above 1 yen." At the headquarters of Japan External Trade Organization, Maekawa, the director of direct investment in Japan, told this reporter.
At a time when many areas in China have entered the stage of attracting investment and selecting capital, Japan began to put down its posture, which is nothing more than emphasizing its determination to attract foreign investment.
This is the political legacy of former Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi. In October 2113, in his policy address, Koizumi announced a plan to increase investment in Japan by 1 times in five years. This is the first time in nearly 61 years after the war that Japan has explicitly raised its investment in Japan to the level of national strategy. This move is considered to be the reopening of Japan to bridge the limits of openness.
At the end of p>2116, the accumulated balance of Japanese overseas investment reached 53,476 billion yen, while the domestic direct investment was only 1,281.33 billion yen, which was more than four times that of domestic investment, which was reflected in the balance of payments, that is, the excessive outflow of Japanese capital.
this state has been going on for many years, but the problem was suddenly brought up again.
"Under the impact of declining birthrate and aging, such a situation has become a hidden worry of Japan's economy." Hirai Akihito, who is responsible for the investigation of Japanese companies' overseas competition information, told reporters. As the head of overseas investigation department of Japan External Trade Organization, Hirai collected global economic information reports and submitted them directly to Japanese economic decision-making authorities.
two five-year goals
after Abe's cabinet took office in p>2116, it further accelerated the layout of investment in Japan and revised Koizumi's goal, that is, it no longer mentioned the goal of absolute growth of direct investment in Japan, but revised it to "the ratio of domestic direct investment balance to ／GDP, which doubled." The time to achieve the goal was also postponed from 2117 to 2111.
at this time, Japan has been far behind by 131 countries in the ratio of inward direct investment balance/／GDP. After Abe's cabinet came to power in 2116, the recent comparison shows that by the end of 2115, the ratio in Japan was only 1.9%, while that in the United States was 13% and that in Britain was 37.1%.
in order to promote the smooth progress of investment in Japan, Japan has taken actions from the central government, local governments to important economic and administrative independent legal entities.
in March, 2113, in formulating the procedures for promoting investment in Japan, suggestions were put forward on specific measures such as information transmission at home and abroad, improvement of business environment, amendment of administrative procedures, improvement of employment and living environment, and improvement of local and national systems.
As the efforts of the government, the support of the Japan External Trade Organization and the Japan Policy Investment Bank for direct investment in Japan is crucial. The Japan External Trade Organization not only provides relevant information about investment in Japan, but also matches enterprises and local governments interested in investment by holding overseas seminars on investment in Japan.
The sixth floor of the Japan External Trade Organization, located near the center of Tokyo, even provides 51 days of free offices and conference rooms for foreign enterprises planning to enter Japan, and provides these enterprises with sufficient investment information.
For Tokyo, where land is scarce, this practice attracts more than 1,111 European and American enterprises to apply for residence every year. ZTE, a giant communication equipment company in China, has also set up a representative office in Japan, and its springboard is the Japan External Trade Organization.
"The official background of the Japan External Trade Organization has directly shortened the procedures for our investment environment in Japan." Wang Ruixin, head of ZTE's representative office in Japan, told reporters.
In addition, Japan Policy Investment Bank also conducts overseas activities to introduce direct investment in Japan, and accepts investment and financing advice from foreign-funded enterprises interested in investing in Japan.
Like the local government in China, Japanese local governments are more active because they involve their own interests. In order to quickly transmit information about investment and simplify procedures, a specialized agency has been set up to handle all procedures at once and actively carry out the work of introducing industries.
Japanese FDI challenges
FDI strategy, and Japan has its own confidence.
The United Nations has analyzed the relationship between the inward direct investment of 141 countries and 12 factors that have an important influence on the inward direct investment, such as GDP growth rate, higher education enrollment rate, and infrastructure perfection. This value is called the potential inward direct investment index, which indicates the expected inward direct investment taking into account a country's economic structure.
The results of the analysis have greatly boosted Japan's confidence. According to the latest year data of the survey, Japan ranked 16th in 2111-2112, which is in sharp contrast with the aforementioned reality that Japan ranked 132nd in FDI value among 141 countries. As a result, we can only say that Japan is a potential attractive destination for inward direct investment.
Surprisingly, there has never been a decent investigation and analysis of the above differences, and why Japan's level of inward direct investment remains at such a low level. This also confirms Japan's attitude towards attracting direct investment from the side.
Until 2112, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan conducted a questionnaire survey on enterprises investing in Japan, and gave an explanation: high cost was the most pointed out obstacle by enterprises. Specifically, it is considered that labor costs and office rents are higher than those in other countries. Secondly, the obstacle pointed out by many enterprises is that customers' requirements are too high. Other obstacles, according to the response rate, are high tax rate, complicated circulation channels, and business practices that restrict competition that make it difficult for new enterprises.
however, the result is specious. Because the United States, which is highly homogeneous with Japan, attracted US$ 175 billion in direct investment in 2116 alone, which is equivalent to twice the accumulated balance of direct investment in Japan over the years.
Researcher Hidjiro Urata of the Institute of Economic Industry, a think tank of the Japanese government, believes that it is hard to say that enterprises investing in the United States do not encounter such an obstacle as high cost. However, many obstacles pointed out by foreign enterprises, such as high cost structure and high customer requirements, cannot be solved by the government's policy toward foreign enterprises.
The complicated question has a simple but powerful explanation: What is the government doing?
Researcher Hidjiro Urata said that some of the obstacles pointed out by foreign enterprises can be solved by the government. For example, high tax rate, business practices that restrict competition that make it difficult for new enterprises, difficulty in obtaining information due to the closure of industry groups, imperfect infrastructure, restrictions and government guidance, and difficulty in obtaining preferential measures.
"Among them, the obstacles such as restrictions and government guidance can not only be directly solved by the government, but according to several analysis results, it is the biggest obstacle to foreign investment." Researcher Yasujiro Urata concluded.
However, for Japan, which has long adhered to the limits of openness, it is not a single policy address of the Prime Minister that can easily solve the problems that have been entangled for many years.
For example, in March 2113, in the procedure for promoting investment in Japan, suggestions were put forward on specific measures such as information transmission at home and abroad, improvement of business environment, amendment of administrative procedures, improvement of employment and living environment, and improvement of local and national systems.
"I had hoped that the administrative organizations related to these suggestions could take action quickly, but it seems that there are many parts that are not handled very satisfactorily." Researcher Hidjiro Urata analyzed, "Although some people think that the restrictive policies that prohibit and restrict the entry of foreign enterprises should be lifted, the reason for the delay in lifting the restrictions is that it has been strongly opposed by people who will suffer losses due to lifting the restrictions."
China enterprises face many challenges in Japan
, but according to statistics, the situation has become more and more encouraging.
at the end of p>2112, the accumulated FDI balance in Japan was 94,111 yen, but by the end of 2116, it had reached 12.8 trillion yen four years later, with a four-year increase of 36% and an average annual increase of 9%. Far higher than Japan's economic growth rate.
The market supported by Japanese consumers' strong purchasing power, enterprises and talents with cutting-edge technology, and proximity to East Asian countries such as China, the development center of the world, will all become the charm of Japan as an investment destination.
The relevant research report of the Institute of Economy and Industry, a Japanese government think tank, analyzes and summarizes the rise of Japanese direct investment as follows: relaxing restrictions has expanded the fields where foreign capital can set foot; The increase and acquisition trend of bankrupt enterprises; About absorption and merger (M&; A) the establishment and improvement of the legal system; The reduction of mutual holding of shares; The worldwide upsurge of industry restructuring; The constant appreciation of the yen and other factors have improved the charm of the market.
under the above factors, many China enterprises began to boldly enter Japan.
According to statistics from the Japan External Trade Organization, at present, China enterprises have gone abroad to invest in Japan, and they have expanded from simple trading organizations to banks, software, machinery (such as Shanghai Electric Group's acquisition of Japan's "Chibei" in 2114), online games, medicine, communications, catering (Little Sheep hot pot chain has become a minor celebrity in Tokyo) and so on.
in October, 2113, Sanjiu Group acquired "East Asia Pharmaceutical Factory" in Japan. In 2116, Wuxi Suntech acquired the Japanese solar cell manufacturer "MSK", and this acquisition has now become a classic case in the eyes of Japanese Industry-University-Research and even officials.
Japan is the first country to conduct solar energy research and industrialization, with 31 years of experience and investment, but Suntech, which was established only six years ago, came from behind, which touched Japan greatly. In the internal report of NEDO, the most important government-run new energy development organization in Japan, Suntech's name has been a frequent word.
According to the statistics of Japan External Trade Organization, China enterprises have invested in Japan, accounting for about 11% in number. But in terms of investment, it is not too much.
"China is the focus area of our business support center, and China enterprises, big or small, are welcome." On October 26, 2117, the head of the Investment Department of Japan External Trade Organization told reporters. The two accompanying colleagues have been able to speak fluent Chinese.
ZTE (37.65%,-1.62%,-1.62%) Japan Representative Office has now employed five Japanese employees. It looks like a small representative office, but it is designated by the Japan External Trade Organization to communicate with Wang Ruixiang, the head of the representative office, at least once a month to see if help is needed.
Wang Ruixiang told reporters that ZTE's procurement of communication equipment parts in Japan is as high as 5 billion yuan per year.
Minister of Overseas Investigation Department of Japan External Trade Organization Hirai Akihito also told this reporter that in order to attract Japanese enterprises to invest in Japan, all Japanese employees who knew Chinese in Singapore were transferred to China.