Only 8.7 percent of the 104 Japanese companies that responded a survey said they plan to scale down their operations in China or pull out of the market amid deteriorating bilateral ties because of a territorial dispute.
The survey by NNA Japan Co. found that 57.1 percent of the firms said they were directly or indirectly affected by anti-Japan riots that erupted across China in mid-September, but 60.6 percent said they would maintain their business operations.
The massive protests in China were triggered by Tokyo's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The islets are claimed by China.
The poll apparently underlined the strength of economic ties between Japan and China, with 30.8 percent of companies saying they were planning to expand their operations or make new investments in the country.
In the survey, conducted from Oct. 15-19, about a month after the anti-Japan rallies started in China, 37.1 percent of the companies expected the riots to have a negative impact on their businesses by the end of March.
Repercussions from the anti-Japan movement include lost sales due to boycotts of Japanese products, delays in Chinese customs procedures and the deterioration of labor-management relations in China, the poll showed.
Asked about the reasons for maintaining operations in China, one trading company said it believed Chinese consumers would shy away from Japanese products only temporarily and that demand for such items would eventually rebound.