BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup
Mixed feelings over buying Japanese products
By Liu Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-13 09:22
Honda, Canon, Fuji, Sony, Mitsubishi, Asahi, Sumitomo, Shiseido, Square
Enix and Daiichi Pharmaceutical apart from being Japanese, these brands
have something else in common. They are all immensely popular in China.
Chinese consumers, with a collective memory of the eight-year Japanese
invasion and Japanese prime ministers' constant visits to the Yasukuni
Shrine that honors war criminals, have mixed feelings toward these
leading brands.
To a recent poll by China Daily on its website (www.chinadaily.com.cn),
which posed the question "Have you bought any products made in Japan over
the past two years, and why?", 45.63 percent of the respondents said
"yes", while 44.04 percent said they had not, and the rest of the 1,065
respondents made no comment.
Most people, the survey reveals, buy Japanese products because of their
quality, after-sales service, design and affordability.
"I don't care if the product comes from Japan or is made in China, I only
care about its quality," said a respondent.
Some consumers believe that the history of war is a political issue, with
no relevance to business.
A Japanese goods buyer said: "That's the real world. You buy what's value
for money. There's no way one can deny that Japanese goods are quality
products," but added that if any Japanese company got involved in
politics in a "negative way", its goods would fall from her grace.
But a great number of people said they were in two minds when buying
Japanese goods.
"Frankly speaking, products made in Japan are superior to ours, so we
tend to buy them. It's rational consumer behavior," a respondent said.
"However, in terms of politics, the Japanese prime ministers' visits to
Yasukuni infuriates all Chinese people."
Most respondents who do not buy Japanese commodities share the latter
view.
Many of those who participated in the survey believe the two nations
share many common interests such as bilateral trade and investment and
the Japanese government should strengthen bilateral ties.
Bilateral trade volume reached $207.36 billion in 2006, up 12.5 percent
over the previous year. Japan continues to be China's third-largest trade
partner. By the end of November 2006, Japanese firms had invested $57.45
billion in China. Japan is now the second-largest source of foreign
investment in China, after the United States.
From January to October 2006, Chinese enterprises invested $12.18 million
in Japan, with total investment from China reaching $189 million.
This year is the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan
relations and the 70th anniversary of the "July 7 Incident" that marked
the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japanese aggression.
(China Daily 04/13/2007 page15)
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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