Japanese executives plan major visit to China

The Japan-China Economic Association said on Monday that it will send a delegation of 200 Japanese executives to China in November, according to the SankeiBiz.

The business leaders are scheduled to stay in Beijing for talks with Chinese government officials on Nov 20-23 and visit other parts of China including some companies in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, after that.

This will be the 43rd annual association delegation to China. The association is headed by Shoji Muneoka, who is chairman of Nippon Steel ＆ Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Japan's largest steel producer.

It will be the third time for Japan's three business bodies - the Japan Business Federation (also known as Keidanren), the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan-China Economic Association - to send a joint delegation to China. Keidanren consists mainly of big companies, and the chamber of commerce represents smaller firms.

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli met with the group of Japanese business leaders last year.

A white paper released by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China in June showed that the number of Japanese companies which hoped to expand in China, were on the increase for the first time in recent years. About 40 per cent of 8,852 Japanese businesses were willing to expand their business on the Chinese mainland, compared with 38 percent in 2015. Only 7.1 percent wanted to scale down or withdraw, down from 10.6 percent that wanted to leave China in the previous year.

China is Japan's biggest trading partner. Japan's exports to China rose 17.6 percent in July compared to a year earlier.