Japan and South Korea released business environment reports

On May 30, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade held a regular press conference in May to release the “Japan Business Environment Report 2024” and the “South Korea Business Environment Report 2024”. Zhao Ping, spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, attended the press conference to introduce the relevant situation.

In order to further understand the business development of Chinese companies in Japan and South Korea, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade conducted surveys on Chinese companies operating and investing in Japan and South Korea through various forms such as corporate seminars, expert interviews, field visits, and questionnaires, and compiled the “Japan Business Environment Report 2024” and “South Korea Business Environment Report 2024” (hereinafter referred to as the “Japan Report” and the “South Korea Report”).

The “Japan Report” shows that nearly 60% of the Chinese companies surveyed believe that Japan’s business environment is good, nearly 90% (89.6%) of the Chinese companies surveyed have achieved profits or break-even in their operations in Japan, and nearly 40% (38.1%) of the Chinese companies surveyed have achieved growth in their market share in Japan.

First, the market connection potential is huge. More Chinese brands are entering the Japanese market, and market competitiveness is constantly improving. Sixty percent (60.2%) of the Chinese companies surveyed plan to expand their business in Japan. Second, Japan’s “green transformation” and “digital transformation” strategies bring market opportunities. Nearly 90% (89.6%) of the Chinese companies surveyed gave a positive evaluation of Japan’s green economic environment, and 90% (90.1%) of the Chinese companies surveyed affirmed Japan’s digital economic environment. Third, there is a large space for cooperation based on the supply chain. More than 90% (93.5%) of the Chinese companies surveyed plan to maintain or strengthen supply chain cooperation with Japanese companies.

Zhao Ping said that Chinese companies in Japan expect that Japan can continue to optimize the business environment, eliminate hidden barriers to foreign-funded enterprises in some industries, simplify administrative procedures related to enterprises, and further improve the level of service to enterprises.

The “Korea Report” shows that nearly 50% of the Chinese companies surveyed believe that Korea’s business environment is good, 86.5% of the Chinese companies surveyed have achieved profitability or break-even in their operations in Korea, 84.4% of the Chinese companies surveyed have achieved growth or maintained their market share in Korea, and 91% of the Chinese companies surveyed plan to maintain their existing business or expand their business in Korea.

Zhao Ping pointed out that in the future, cooperation between China and South Korea in the fields of digital economy and green economy is particularly worth looking forward to. In the field of digital economy, China-South Korea cross-border e-commerce cooperation has continued to improve quality and efficiency, and 97.9% of the Chinese companies surveyed have a positive evaluation of South Korea’s digital economy environment. In the field of green economy, China and South Korea have complementary advantages in new energy vehicles and strong momentum for cooperation, and 96.5% of the Chinese companies surveyed have a positive evaluation of South Korea’s green economy environment.

“Chinese companies in South Korea expect that relevant Korean government departments will actively listen to the reasonable suggestions of Chinese companies, speed up the introduction of more policies to benefit enterprises, optimize and improve public services, and better protect the rights and interests of Chinese companies.” Zhao Ping said.