Corporate Japan appears to be shedding its long-held suspicion of Chinese investors after a big jump in the value of acquisitions in Japan by mainland companies this year.
Last week’s agreement by Panasonic to sell the white goods division of its Sanyo subsidiary to Haier, the Chinese refrigerator and washing machine company, put the value of inbound Chinese investment at $575.5m to the end of July, according to Dealogic, more than four times the total for last year.
Japanese executives have tended to view ambitious, cash-rich Chinese companies as a threat, liable to pillage struggling Japanese groups for technology and other assets and accelerate Japan’s relative economic decline.