JAPANESE MANUFACTURERS IN EAST CHINA HIT HARD BY ECONOMIC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000079 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/J TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA -- DOHNER/HAARSAGER/WINSHIP/CUSHMAN TREASURY FOR IMFP -- SOBEL/MOGHTADER USDOC FOR ITA DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, MAC/OCEA NSC FOR LOI STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD/WINTER/MCCARTIN/KATZ/MAIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD EFIN EINV ELAB PGOV CH JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE MANUFACTURERS IN EAST CHINA HIT HARD BY ECONOMIC DOWNTURN, BUT NOT LAYING OFF WORKERS REF: SHANGHAI 074 (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for dissemination outside USG channels or posting on the internet. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Japanese manufacturers in East China started seeing a drop in domestic and export demand in early 2008 but did not cut production until late 2008, hoping for Olympics-driven growth and pressured by Chinese JV partners to "keep the machines running," according to Shanghai-based Japanese analysts. The analysts are skeptical that China's fiscal stimulus package will boost Chinese domestic consumption in the near term and that infrastructure projects will help Japanese construction firms. Chinese Government subsidies to rural households for the purchase of household appliances will not help Japanese firms since China's rural consumers prefer low-end products, and the Chinese Government is encouraging consumers to "buy China," said the analysts. Japanese manufacturers in East China, constrained by the Labor Contract Law, have laid-off very few workers and are relying on "natural attrition." A few Japanese SMEs have left East China amid the downturn, but most are staying put and taking a "wait-and-see" approach, said the analysts. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Congenoff spoke with three Japanese research analysts based in Shanghai on February 9 about the impact of the global financial crisis on Japanese companies in East China. The analysts included: Naotaka Sonoda, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Research Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC); Takehiro Matsuda, Vice President, Corporate Research Group, SMBC; and Katsushi Shiokawa, Chief Representative, Okasan Securities Co Shanghai Representative Office. According to Katsuyuki Tomizawa, Consul at the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, there are 6800 Japanese companies in Shanghai, 6000 in Jiangsu Province (including 2000 in Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu located 50 miles west of Shanghai),2000 in Zhejiang Province, and 500-600 in Anhui Province. Japanese Consulate officials said in 2008 that more than 40,000 Japanese citizens are residents of Shanghai, and that only New York and Los Angeles have greater numbers of expatriate Japanese residents. Japanese Electronic Firms Experience Sharp Slowdown -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Matsuda of SMBC said Japanese household appliance manufacturers in East China experienced "very strong demand" (both domestic and export) for their products up to the end of ¶2007. Some firms began noticing a drop in demand in the beginning of 2008, a phenomenon Matsuda attributed to the drop in the Shanghai stock market (which began its rapid decline after hitting its peak on October 16, 2007) and decline in residential property prices from the end of 2007. The loss of capital gains and decline in new home purchases constituted a "double punch," as Chinese consumers stopped buying expensive electronic products like large screen TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners, said Matsuda. ¶4. (SBU) According to Sonoda of SMBC, Japanese electronics firms in East China starting seeing a rise in inventory in March 2008 but continued manufacturing at the same pace because they expected an economic boost from the Beijing Olympics in August ¶2008. The Japanese firms also faced pressure from their Chinese joint venture (JV) partners who, with their "SOE (state-owned enterprise) mentality," were interested in "just keeping people employed and the machines running." (Note: Matsuda added that Japanese auto makers in China faced similar pressure from their JV partners, preventing Japanese managers from utilizing their just-in-time production and inventory management skills. End note.) Sonoda said the Olympics, however, did not boost domestic demand as expected, and after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, domestic demand as well as demand from the United States and European Union fell precipitously. SHANGHAI 00000079 002 OF 003 Inventory rose rapidly in October and November 2008, and many firms cut capacity to 30-40 percent by the end of the year, said Matsuda. Most Japanese electronics firms in East China are still adjusting their production and inventory, according to Matsuda, a process that will continue through the end of 2009. Component Makers Feel Delayed Slowdown -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The slowdown for Japanese electronic component manufacturers in East China came later, according to Matsuda. He said several component makers were fairly optimistic even as late as September 2008, since they still had a backlog of orders from electronics firms. However, orders fell abruptly in October 2008, and most component makers have had no new orders since. The component makers have "just given up" on Q1 2009, said Sonoda, but some are optimistic about Q2 2009. Their optimism, however, is solely based on the hope that new orders will somehow start coming in after March and that the situation cannot get worse than it is now, Sonoda said. Pessimistic About Fiscal Stimulus, Domestic Consumption -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Shiokawa thinks the idea of a Chinese economic recovery in Q2 2009 is "too optimistic." For most Japanese firms in East China, the main question is "where will the demand come from?" China's USD 586 billion fiscal stimulus package announced in November 2008 will only have a delayed effect and will not boost domestic consumption until the second half of 2009 at the earliest, these analysts speculated. ¶7. (SBU) The interlocutors believe Chinese domestic demand, even if it picks up, will not make up for the sharp decline in demand from the United States, Japan, and European Union. They said Chinese Government subsidies to rural households for the purchase of electronic products, including TV sets, refrigerators, and air conditioners, will not help Japanese firms since rural consumers prefer lower-end Chinese products. The Chinese Government is also encouraging consumers to "buy China," they said, by designating certain brands for the subsidies program. ¶8. (SBU) The analysts do not think infrastructure projects in the fiscal stimulus package will help Japanese makers of construction machinery. According to Sonoda, the Chinese Government's main concern now is creating jobs, so construction projects are likely to utilize a larger number of small construction machinery rather than more efficient, large Japanese machinery that can be operated by a single worker. Matsuda noted that Komatsu and Hitachi, two Japanese firms that make large construction equipment, had seen year-on-year growth in China of 40 percent through much of 2008 but that sales in November and December 2008 were down 50 percent from the previous year. These companies expect slow growth in 2009. "The Chinese Government would rather give 50 shovels to 50 workers rather than employ one worker to operate a large bulldozer," Sonoda said half-jokingly. No Large Layoffs -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Although Japanese manufacturers in East China have slowed production in recent months, there have been very few layoffs, said the analysts. The biggest reason for this, they explained, is the Labor Contract Law (LCL),which has made it very difficult to layoff workers. Instead, Japanese firms are relying on "natural attrition," which Matsuda estimated to be about 30 percent annually. Companies have frozen all new hiring, leaving empty slots unfilled, he added. Many Japanese firms are also sending ex-pat employees back to Japan, since "every Japanese employee costs as much as several dozen Chinese workers," said Sonoda. The interlocutors do not know what percentage of migrant workers have returned to their Japanese factories after the Chinese New Year, nor have they heard of SHANGHAI 00000079 003 OF 003 social unrest among workers of Japanese factories. (Comment: U.S. firms in East China are also limiting layoffs despite the downturn. See reftel. Taiwan entrepreneurs in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province also complained during a recent discussion to be reported septel that the LCL is major problem preventing them from adjusting to the economic downturn. End comment.) Wait and See -------------- ¶10. (SBU) According to Matsuda, unlike Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Chinese manufacturers, not many Japanese firms in East China are going out of business. Although some companies, especially SMEs, are retreating from the China market, most are now in a "wait-and-see" mode. The interlocutors said the general sentiment among Japanese firms is that if they cannot make it in China, how can they expect to compete globally? Sonoda added that most Japanese companies will not leave China because they realize that once they get out, it will be hard to get back in. CAMP