Economic Relations between Japan and China: Current State and Perspectives

 During a half-day workshop the DIJ Economic Section presented the initial results of this year’s primary research topic: “Japanese-Chinese economic relations”. The discussion addressed Japan’s economic relations with mainland China. This is a very timely issue considering the expected acceptance of China as a member of the WTO. The issue also fits well into the general DIJ project of “Japan in Asia” and the ongoing research focus of the DIJ Economic Section on the internationalization of Japan’s economy.

Hanns Günther Hilpert started the workshop with a macro-economic analysis of Japanese-Chinese economic relations. He demonstrated the already high level of integration and intensity of this relationship by referring to trade and investment ties. Jörg Raupach-Sumiya followed with a discussion of potential economic rivalry and increased competition between companies of both nations. He developed industry-specific scenarios for a growing Chinese competitive threat in selected industries. Tejima Shigeki, Professor of Economics at the Nishogakusha University, Tokyo, analyzed structural and regional features as well as future perspectives of Japanese foreign direct investment in mainland China in the manufacturing industries. Jochen Legewie talked about the organization and managerial coordination of Japanese subsidiaries in mainland China with a focus on human resource management. René Haak presented the results of his empirical study of Japanese-German business cooperation in third countries by using China as his case. He pointed out problem areas and future trends.
The 35 participants from the academic and the business community engaged in a lively and somewhat charged discussion that revealed the high level of interest and explosive nature of this subject. An issue that aroused particularly heated debate was the question of whether Japan and China are heading toward increasing confrontation and rivalry, or whether the forces of growing economic integration and mutual interdependence will deepen cooperation and a wealthenhancing division of labor.