A Case Study on Japanese Corporations' Business Transaction and Conflicts with China

일본기업의 대중거래와 분쟁에 대한 사례 연구

Ever since the open and reform policy in 1987, China has adopted the socialistic market economy system and has been moving forward in economic reform. This gradually expanded their market economy. The open and reform policy achieved the highest average annual GDP growth rate of 9% and helped the country maintain high growth. China's economic growth in recent years has a lot to do with the international trading and direct investment by foreign corporations. China's entry into the WTO dramatically increased their amount of capital and investments due to their aggressive investments with foreign corporations. It is quite amazing that investments in China has been constantly increasing while the direct investments worldwide is decreasing. Moreover, increase in such investments is contributing to China's job creation, as well as, the expansion of international trading. When international economic exchange started between Japan and China in the 1970s, it was in the form of aid for developing countries, hence the collection of the investment was out of the question. It was in the 1990s that Japan started the full-scale investments with China and it was mostly centered in transfer of the production base. Japanese corporations aim was to mass produce goods less expensively using abundant and cheap labor and to sell them to Japan and other countries. The amount of Japan's exports and imports compared with China is increasing every year but the trade deficit has gone into the red. The dollar amount has been decreased from $ 27 billion in 2001 to $ 18 billion in 2003. The problems and damages in the system of justice and administrative confrontation that Japanese corporations are facing are continuously at a stand-still even after China's entry into the WTO. It has been 20 years since Japan's advance in China and during that period, the Japanese corporations brought many changes ranging from exports/imports to direct investment. Although Japan's new corporations tend to be located in the mid-western part of China, rather than the coastal areas, the region itself is not the cause for the confrontation. The problem stems from the Japanese treating the Chinese as if they were Japanese because they look similar due to their Asian ancestry. In reality the Chinese have completely different ways of doing business. Here we will take a look at the international trading and direct investment of Japanese corporations in China and study the conflicts that occurred in business transactions with China through real examples.