News
According to analysis by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) on Japan-China trade in the first half of 2015, based on import data from Trade Statistics by the Ministry of Finance of Japan and the China Customs Statistics, total trade decreased by 12.1% to $148 billion from the same period of the previous year, shifting to a decline on a first-half basis.
Exports (referred to as China's imports from Japan hereafter) decreased by 10.8% to $69.5 billion, with imports amounting to a 13.1% decline to $78.6 billion. The larger decrease in imports than in exports resulted in a 27.4% decline in Japan's trade deficit at $9 billion from the corresponding period of the previous year. This is the seventh consecutive term that Japan's deficit has been recorded since the first half of 2012, on a half-year basis.
Exports, which marked a rise in the same period of the previous year for the first time in three years on a first-half basis, decreased in almost all product types due to the ongoing depreciation of the yen, shifting to a 10.8% decline at $69.5 billion from the same period. The value of electronic equipment, accounting for the largest share of exports, remained unchanged from the previous year as a whole, despite a decline in photoelectric cells and electric circuits, while an increase in integrated circuits (ICs) and communication devices was obtained. In transportation equipment, passenger cars dropped by approximately 30% in both value and volume from the significant gain of over 50% recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. General machinery is declining across all borders, specifically in textile machines and motors.
The import value also decreased by 13.1% to $78.6 billion in a wide range of product categories from the same period of the previous year. Demand for portable automatic data-processing machines, such as laptop computers, declined by around 30%, although it had marked a double-digit growth due to a last-minute surge in demand before the consumption tax hike and the end of Windows XP support in the first period of the previous year. Meanwhile, imports of mobile phone terminals such as smart phones, which make up a large share, declined by around 10%. Iron and steel dropped by 24.9%, though a big surge was experienced in 2014. Apparel and accessories decreased by 14%, due to multiple transfers of production bases into ASEAN countries to avoid increasing production costs in China.
