Rise in Japan sales tax may hit China exporters

Higher levy seen cutting demand amid slowing economic conditions

Japan raised its sales tax on Tuesday, a move likely to depress Chinese export prices to Japan while bilateral trade remains full of uncertainties amid political tensions, experts said.

"It will have a great impact on the Japanese economy. An economic recession with sluggish demand in Japan will drive down demand for Chinese products," Zhang Jifeng, assistant to the director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily.