(Yicai Global) May 15 -- Many Japanese companies that make products used in new energy vehicles are seeking to collaborate with Chinese companies along the industrial chain so as to leap on the bandwagon as Chinese carmakers expand their footprint worldwide.

"We hope to increase cooperation with Chinese original equipment manufacturers, such as BYD, so that our products can be used more in China,” Shuji Kondo, China representative of Japanese chemicals giant Asahi Kasei, told Yicai Global. “Some of Asahi Kasei's products are widely used in NEVs and this is the direction we are moving in.”

NEVs accounted for a quarter of China’s car exports in the first quarter at 248,000 units, more than double from a year before, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Chinese NEVs have become popular in countries such as Norway, Sweden and Germany, and many manufacturers have set up factories in Southeast Asia.

Although China’s NEV sector is developing much faster than Japan’s it does not mean that Japanese firms lack R&D ability and production technology in this field, a Japanese business observer told Yicai Global.

"However, without entering China's NEV market, it is impossible to gauge demand and it is difficult for businesses with these technologies to keep growing," the person said.

Asahi Kasei’s team in Shenzhen is seeking to work with BYD, Kondo said. The Tokyo-based firm has also set up a collaborative laboratory in Shanghai for the world’s leading NEV makers. And in the future, such labs will be set up all over the country with different goals, he added.

Osaka-based Shigehara Manufacturing, which makes sports car parts, has received orders from 10 Chinese automobile firms to design transmissions for electric cars.

There are also government-level tie-ups between the two countries. The China Electricity Council and the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s CHAdeMo Association are linking arms to develop next-generation chargers for NEVs with the aim of making them a new world standard.

Editor: Kim Taylor