The Chinese-language transmission of Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on September 14, that the Japanese government’s aid program to assist Japanese companies to leave China is gaining in popularity. The first batch of approved applicants consisted of nearly 90 companies. However, by the end of July, the program received almost 1,700 applications in the second batch. The Japanese government added a supplemental budget of US$2.07 billion to its 2020 budget in order to sponsor Japanese manufacturers moving their supply chain out of China and back to Japan or somewhere else. The second batch of applications totalled US$16.57 billion. It said experts believe that the CCP virus is serving as a wake-up call for many governments around the globe that restructuring their industrial supply chain is an urgent task. The steady increase in the cost of investing in China is also emerging as an important factor for motivating companies to consider leaving China. According to a study conducted by the Japan External Trade Organization, China’s cost index was 80 in 2019, Vietnam was 74, and baseline Japan was 100.
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