By Zhang Yiwei Source:Global Times Published: 2014-1-10 0:28:01
A Global Times poll has revealed that more than 70 percent of responding Japanese entrepreneurs are willing to strengthen cooperation with their Chinese counterparts, while political confrontation in Northeast Asia influences Japanese companies the most among Chinese, Japanese and South Korean.
The survey, collaboratively conducted by the Global Times Global Poll Center, South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper and Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Japan from December 4 to 18, collected responses from 100 Chinese, 109 Japanese and 137 South Korean entrepreneurs or CEOs.
The poll shows that 70 percent of Chinese and 78 percent of Japanese entrepreneurs believe that the political ties between the two countries will remain intense, with 29 percent of Japanese entrepreneurs saying that their operations are affected by political confrontation, the highest percentage among the three.
However, 77 percent of Japanese entrepreneurs choose to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts despite political factors. Only 13 percent of Chinese entrepreneurs hold the same view, with 57 percent choosing to "avoid cooperation" or opting to not cooperate at all.
"The idea that politics should be separated from the economy has gained an audience in Japan, while Chinese entrepreneurs tend to believe that the two dimensions are inseparable," said Huang Dahui, director of the Center for East Asia Studies at the Renmin University of China.
Tang Chunfeng, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times that Japanese entrepreneurs are aware that the Chinese market cannot be replaced after years of cooperation, noting that Japanese investments in China still increased for more than 15 percent despite the intense bilateral relations in 2013.
Mitsumaru Kumagai, chief economist at the Tokyo-based Economic Research Department of the Daiwa Institute of Research, told the Global Times that Japanese entrepreneurs should keep a certain distance from the Chinese market and continue investing in Southeast Asia, noting that South Korea highly relies on the Chinese economy but Japan does not.
The findings also show that 56 percent of Chinese entrepreneurs believe the political ties between China and South Korea will become closer, while only 11 percent of South Korean counterparts hold the same view.
A total of 76 percent of Chinese and 30 percent of South Korean entrepreneurs believe that economic relations between the two countries will become closer.
Shin Min-young, a research fellow with the LG Economic Research Institute, told the Global Times that South Korea looks at the Chinese economy with some concern, despite China having confidence in its own economy.
Entrepreneurs in the three countries hold the view that the Chinese economy will keep growing but at a slow rate, while Chinese entrepreneurs' main attitudes toward the Japanese economy is that it will stagnate or shrink. Despite that, nearly 70 percent of Japanese respondents say their economy has problems but is growing smoothly.