"Things made in China for the domestic market will stay, but for things made in China to export, the advantages, starting with labour costs, are declining"
- Wakamatsu, a Southeast Asia specialist at the government-affiliated Japan External Trade Organisation
Japanese companies are expected to invest less in the world's second biggest economy, as tensions between countries escalated. More than 20,000 Japanese firms invested into China in order to take an advantage of low production costs and to find a surging market for everything from cars to cosmetics. As reported by the Japan's finance ministry, nation's direct investment in the Southeast Asian region during the previous year exceeded China's by almost 50 per cent.
"China is very convenient, but gradually that convenience has been fading," Yoshihisa Ejiri, 65, president of clothing chain Honeys Co said Wednesday.
"Things made in China for the domestic market will stay, but for things made in China to export, the advantages, starting with labour costs, are declining," said Isamu Wakamatsu, a Southeast Asia specialist at the government-affiliated Japan External Trade Organisation.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average regained 0.26% per cent, or 23.25 points, to 8,977.55. The broader Topix Index climbed 0.22% per cent, or 1.66 points, to 744.93.
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