Radio Taiwan International (RTI) recently reported that Bridgestone, Japan’s largest tire manufacturer, announced the closure of its factory in the Chinese city of Shenyang. The company also plans to terminate the production and sales of commercial vehicle tires in China during the first half of 2024. The Bridgestone Group has been operating in China for more than 20 years. Bridgestone closed its tire factory in Huizhou, Guangdong Province at the end of 2021 and transferred production capacity and equipment to Shenyang.
Japan was the first country to have foreign businesses enter China during the modern era. In recent years, foreign companies, including many from Japan, have withdrawn from the Chinese market. Experts have said that Japan is a “weathervane” for foreign investment in China, and that foreign business withdrawals from China are now accelerating. This is quite inconsistent with the Chinese government’s messaging around business-friendliness. Since last year, world-renowned companies including Japan’s Canon, SONY, Toshiba, Nikon and South Korea’s Samsung have withdrawn from China, affecting tens of thousands of Chinese employees.
Source: RTI, March 15, 2024
https://www.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2199093