China overtook the US as Japan’s largestexport market for the first time in July,the Financial Times reported. Japan’s exportsto China rose 16.8 per cent year-onyear- the highest level since Tokyo begantracking the statistic – while shipments tothe US fell 11.5 per cent, a report fromJapan’s Finance Ministry said. Overall,Japanese exports climbed 8.1 per cent inthe month. As the US economic slowdownintensifies, Japanese companies, includingchina Honda and Komatsu, increasingly look toChina for growth.
Honda, for example, announced double-digit increases in its China sales inthe three months to June, compared witha 5 per cent fall in the US. However, KyoheiMorita, chief economist at BarclaysCapital in Tokyo, noted that Japaneseexports to China might decelerate giventhe expected slowdown in Chinese growthand the country’s increasing dependenceon the EU as a source of goods.