ABSTRACT
Japan-China diplomatic relations were normalized in 1972. During the 1970s, Japan-China annual exports and imports were about US$2 billion each way, or a combined two-way figure of US$4 billion. China's share of Japan's trade has fairly consistently increased, reaching 8.9 percent in 1997. This chapter presents the general categories of Japan's exports to China based upon Japanese government statistics. In the 1970s there were times when steel occupied more than fifty percent, but in recent years it has fallen to about ten percent. The chapter then presents the composition of Japan's imports from China. Through the first half of the 1980s the largest share, sometimes more than fifty percent, was taken by petroleum and petroleum products. In terms of sales in 1996, the top Japanese enterprise operating in China was Qingling Motors, a joint venture of Isuzu Motors producing small trucks in Chongqing. In the automotive sector, there are also joint ventures with Honda, Nissan, and Suzuki.
