Japan: the drop in Chinese exports linked to “zero Covid” raises fears of shortages
Containers in the port of Shanghai, China, on October 19, 2021 (Illustrative image).
REUTERS - ALY SONG
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
In Japan, store shelves are emptying.
Due to Xi Jinping's "zero Covid" policy, the very strict confinements imposed in Shanghai or Beijing in particular have greatly disrupted the operation of Chinese companies which export their products throughout Asia.
Advertisement
Read more
With our correspondent in Tokyo
,
Bruno Duval
In Japan, air conditioners, cosmetics, ready-to-wear or
"made in China"
photocopiers are becoming rare commodities.
Stock shortages, delivery delays and dissatisfied customers are the daily life of these two salespeople, who work respectively in the household appliances section of a department store and at a bicycle dealer.
“
We are no longer taking orders for washing machines, pressure cookers, microwave ovens or air conditioners
: we are asking customers to come back in a month.
And we tell them that we may not be delivered before the end of the summer
, ”said one of these sellers.
“
It's terrible, our stocks are shrinking visibly.
At this rate, we risk having to close shop in a month or two: we won't have anything left to sell,
continues the other.
And to make matters worse, the price of aluminum has soared since the start of the war in Ukraine, which will make bicycles more expensive in the future.
As if this Chinese problem were not enough
,” continues the other.
The Japanese economy was already slow to recover after the pandemic crisis.
This break in Chinese supply chains is therefore particularly bad, according to financial analyst Toshihiro Nagahama.
“
China being the first trading partner
of Japan, the disruptions caused by its “zero Covid” policy represent a shortfall of nearly one billion euros per month for the Japanese GDP
”, he notes.
More than two out of three Japanese companies say they are affected by the containment measures imposed in China.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Japan
China