Japanese executives gather in Shanghai to discuss future development

More than 250 senior managers and human resources executives from well-known Japanese companies gathered at a conference held by China International Intellectech Co Ltd (CIIC) in Shanghai on Friday to discuss their future development in the city and beyond.

The companies are from the areas of financial, trade, technology, new energy, information technology, automobile, manufacturing among others.

Zhu Yi, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said in her remarks that Japan is an important source of investment for Shanghai, with more than 6,600 Japanese-funded enterprises taking root in the city. Meanwhile, Japan is an important source of imports and export market for Shanghai. 

"It's expected that a rising number of Japanese-funded enterprises will invest in Shanghai in the future and participate in the city's further opening-up to develop and prosper together with Shanghai," she said.

Shuichi Akamatsu, consul general of Japan in Shanghai, said in his remarks that China is an important partner of Japan in terms of economic exchanges. Regarding trade and overseas sales by Japanese companies, the direct investment yield in China ranks first among major investment destinations.

"The Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai will continue to actively promote economic exchanges based on the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between Japan and China, and implement local exchanges, youth exchanges, and cultural exchanges this year," he said.

Multiple company executives shared at the event the current situation of their business and the measures taken to actively respond to various challenges. They also expressed expectations for deepened development in the China market.

Every year, before April, when Japanese companies start a new fiscal year, CIIC, a State-owned enterprise focusing on international cooperation, holds an annual gathering for Japanese enterprises that are members of a club organized by CIIC to facilitate communication and expand opportunities for collaboration.

Chen Zilei, a professor at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, said that bilateral trade and investment between China and Japan used to focus more on quantity, but is paying more attention to quality currently.

"For example, Japan's direct investment in China in the past focused more on manufacturing, but now it has shifted to service industry, which will be of great help to the opening-up and development of our country's service industry and the improvement of economic quality," he said.