TOKYO: Japan has allocated billions of yen of its coronavirus stimulus relief to help its manufacturing companies move the production plants out of China and back to Japan or to some other countries.
According to a Bloomberg News report, the extra budget includes some 220 billion yen—around US$2 billion — for companies shifting production back to Japan.
Likewise, about 23.5 billion yen has been allocated for those seeking to move production to other countries.
This means that the Japanese firms have reduced their reliance on China as a manufacturing base.
The decision comes at a time after China lied to the whole world about the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak in the communist country and tried to cover it up because of which it led to the outbreak spreading throughout China and the rest of the world.
The report said that China is Japan’s biggest trading partner under normal circumstances. However, the imports from China have slumped by almost half in February as the disease closed factories.
(With inputs from Bloomberg News)
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