Survey: Two-thirds of Japanese companies believe that worsening relations between China and Japan will negatively impact the economy.

A survey released by Reuters on the 15th showed that more than 2/3 of Japanese companies expect the country's economy to be negatively affected by the worsening of Sino-Japanese relations, with nearly half reporting or predicting that this will directly impact their business. Sino-Japanese relations have continued to deteriorate since Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae made erroneous remarks regarding Taiwan in November last year. According to Reuters on the 15th, the survey was conducted by the Nikkei Research Company from December 24th last year to January 7th this year, with 237 out of 494 Japanese companies contacted anonymously responding. The report stated that approximately 9% of respondents said their business has been affected by the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations, while another 35% expect to be affected to some extent. Approximately 43% of respondents said that the continued deterioration of bilateral relations may prompt them to reassess their operations related to China. The report quoted a response from a manager of a Japanese railway operator saying, "The decrease in the number of Chinese tourists has begun to affect the occupancy rate of our hotel business and the revenue per room." An executive of an electronics manufacturer also stated that China's rare earth policy is a "matter of life and death" for the company.