Chinese companies' investments in Japan on the rise

Two women skiers at the prestigious ski destination Resort Tomamu in Japan. [Photo/China Daily]

Japan has been attracting Chinese tourists and investors for a while now. In May 2014, China's Fosun International Ltd acquired Japan's property management company Idera Capital Management Ltd. Incidentally, Fosun holds a 29.9 percent stake in Shanghai Yuyuan.

In August 2014, it bought an office building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. In December of last year, it bought another office building in Shinagawa.

In the next five years, Shanghai Spring International Travel Service (Group) Co Ltd, in cooperation with Japanese property developer Sunfrontier Fudousan Co Ltd, will invest 20 billion yen to open a chain of up to 20 hotels in Japan. Shanghai Spring is the parent of Spring Airlines, China's leading budget airline.

The yen's deprecation, easing of Japan's visa application process and more flights to Japan have all contributed to an explosion in the number of Chinese tourists.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, 4.28 million Chinese tourists poured into Japan during the first 10 months of this year, up nearly 100 percent year-on-year.

Among tourists to Japan, the Chinese are the biggest spenders.

During the second quarter of this year, they parted with 466 billion yen, 46.4 percent of total tourist consumption, which peaked during the seven-day Chinese National Day holiday in October.

According to Ctrip.com International Ltd, China's largest online travel agency, a Chinese tourist spends as much as 25,000 yuan ($3,900) on average in Japan.

During the National Day holiday in October, nearly 400,000 Chinese tourists landed in Japan, suggesting they must have pumped in at least 10 billion yuan into the Japanese economy in just seven days.

Chinese companies, particularly those with overseas property investment plans, can ill-afford to ignore such data. Christine Lai, an analyst with property market consultancy DTZ/Cushman and Wakefield Asia Pacific, said such companies will focus on major gateway cities like Tokyo.