News
According to analysis by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) on Japan-China trade in 2015, based on import data from “Trade Statistics of Japan” by the Ministry of Finance and the “China Customs Statistics,” total trade decreased by 11.8% to $303.3 billion, a double-digit fall for the first time in six years (since 2009), the year following the financial crisis.
Due to a 14.5% decline in the Japanese yen against the US dollar in 2015, Japan’s exports decreased by 12.3% to $142.7 billion and imports also declined by 11.3% to $160.6 billion. The figures converted into the Japanese yen, however, indicate an increase in all total trade, exports and imports by 0.8% to 36.7 trillion yen, 0.2% to 17.3 trillion yen and 1.3% to 19.4 trillion yen, respectively.
Japan’s trade deficit decreased by 2.7% from the same period of the previous year, down to $17.9 billion. This is the fourth consecutive year in which a deficit has been recorded for Japan since 2012.
JETRO has conducted the survey based on imports of both countries. This is because trade statistics are currently calculated with exports based on destination and imports based on origin, without the calculation of exports to China conducted via Hong Kong. Since import statistics in China includes all goods originated in Japan, it is considered that data obtained from each country’s import statistics show a more accurate overview of the trade between the two countries. Figures in China’s import statistics are on a US dollar basis, while those of Japan’s have been converted into US dollar figures by the Global Trade Atlas.
