 "110 Japanese firms went bankrupt in China last year: Report")
One hundred and ten Japanese firms went bankrupt in China last year, a research report said, highlighting challenges in doing business in the world's second-largest economy.
A new report by Tokyo Shoko Research showed that 110 Japanese companies went bankrupt last year, citing the challenges of doing business in China, or 'China risk', the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
A combination of increasing production costs and heightened political tensions were cited as some of the reasons affecting the business climate.
It was an increase from 101 firms the previous year and the highest number since Tokyo Shoko Research began the annual survey in 2014, the report said.
As the Chinese economy slowed down pressures increased for the foreign investors, especially the Japanese firms which faced a complex political situation since the crisis over the disputed islands in the East China Sea since 2012.
Japan has been one of the largest investors in China for decades and all its top automobile firms are firmly entrenched in the Chinese market.
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Bilateral trade accounted for $303 billion between the two countries in 2015 despite bilateral tensions.
The Japanese companies that went under left debts amounting to 71.84 billion yen although there was a decline of nearly 67 per cent on the previous year's losses because only one company failed with debts totalling more than 10 billion yen, the research report said.
The 'China risk' bankruptcies also caused the loss of 1,638 jobs, surpassing the 1,000 figure for the first time, the research showed.
By sector, 63 of the failures were wholesale companies and 33 were manufacturing concerns. The hardest-hit industry was apparel, which reported 54 bankruptcies, nearly half of annual total of 110.
"At the moment, the rise in costs due to soaring labour costs in China is a threat, in particular to Japanese apparel-related companies," said Mitsuhiro Harada, who authored the report.
"Apparel companies in Japan were previously attracted to China due to the low manufacturing costs, including labour costs, and raised the ratio of the products they produced in China and stepped up procurement there," Harada told the Post.
"However, this has faded with the subsequent rise of 'fast fashion' in Japan -- inexpensive apparel products with impressive designs distributed outside conventional routes. Combined with rising costs due to increasing personnel costs in China, this was enough to bring down companies that were already struggling," he said.