Japan's Second-Biggest City Looks to Lure in More Chinese Firms
Pan Yinru
DATE:  Nov 23 2018
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Japan's Second-Biggest City Looks to Lure in More Chinese Firms Japan's Second-Biggest City Looks to Lure in More Chinese Firms

(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- Yokohoma, the second-biggest metropolis in Japan, is drawing up new policies to bring in more Chinese companies, according to the city mayor.

The city is trying to attract more Chinese companies engaged in manufacturing, information technology, environmental protection and other sectors to settle there, Fumiko Hayashi said at an investment promotion conference in Shanghai on Nov. 20, while leading a trade delegate to China's largest city.

Yokohoma is home to four million people and a gross domestic product of JPY13.5 trillion (USD120 billion), and shares Narita Airport with the Japanese capital.

It also belongs to the Tokyo metropolitan area, which makes up a third of Japan's population and has an economy as large as USD1.8 trillion. If the area were a country, that would have ranked it above Italy as the world's eighth-largest economy in 2015, according to data from the International Monetary fund.

Selling Points

One of Yokohoma's key attractions is its automotive supply chain. Nissan, Suzuki, Ford and others have all built research and development centers of headquarters in the city.

Thousands of firms have formed clusters for precision processing and materials to support manufacturing there, the chief representative from Yokohoma Industrial Development's Shanghai office told Yicai Global. It has the largest group of chip designers, with, 3,5000 Japanese companies on board, he added.

The city also benefits from lower housing prices than Tokyo, and less congestion on the roads, the rep said, noting that Huawei, Lenovo and other Chinese and Japanese companies have shifted their offices out of the capital and into Yokohoma.

Authorities there have also sought to ramp up support for environmental protection companies, and is home to some of the most advanced firms in the country. Chiyoda Chemical, one of Japan's top three players in the sector, has set up a headquarters there, along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental and Chemical Engineering and environmental and energy units under JFE Holdings.

Editor: James Boynton

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Keywords:   Japan,Yokohama