Astellas Photo: VCG

Japanese drug company Astellas Pharma will open a research and development (R&D) center in Beijing as soon as this year, which would be the company's first R&D center in China, aiming to tap the rapidly improving drug discovery capabilities of Chinese partners to find promising new candidates, Nikkei Asia reported.

The reported move once again underscores the fact that many Japanese businesses are "voting with their feet" in favor of expanding their presence in the Chinese market, despite worsening bilateral relations provoked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on the Taiwan question and other aggressive military moves, a Chinese expert said, urging the Japanese government to heed the calls of the business community and make greater efforts to repair, rather than damage, bilateral relations.

According to Nikkei Asia, Astellas Pharma already has sales and clinical trial facilities in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as a production base in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. The Beijing R&D hub will handle drug discovery, per the report. 

Other Japanese drug companies are also expanding investment in the Chinese market. Daiichi Sankyo is investing about 1.1 billion yuan ($162 million) to increase China production capacity by starting operations at a Shanghai pharmaceutical production facility in fiscal 2030, according to the report.

The reported investment plan of the Japanese drug company in China came just few days after the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China (JCCIC) on Thursday released the White Paper on the Chinese Economy and Japanese Enterprises 2026 in Beijing, showing that a majority of Japanese firms plan to maintain their investment in China.

At the event, Tetsuro Homma, president of the JCCIC, said that the proportion of Japanese-funded enterprises in China choosing to stay committed to the Chinese market is as high as about 85 percent, demonstrating the firm determination of the vast majority of Japanese companies to deeply cultivate the Chinese market.

The report covered a period during which the US introduction of reciprocal tariff policies has triggered turmoil in the international trading system and amid worsening Japan-China relations after Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan question and other aggressive military moves.

In the context of bilateral tension provoked by Japanese authorities, Astellas' strategic expansion can be seen as a barometer of confidence in the Chinese market, effectively "voting with its feet," Da Zhigang, a researcher at the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The reported investment plan and the chamber's latest survey results also reflect China's vast market scale, its fully integrated industrial chain, strong supporting industrial capabilities, and a rapidly upgrading R&D ecosystem empowered by artificial intelligence - all of which are difficult for other global markets to match, said Da.

However, political and diplomatic confrontation will ultimately have an impact on bilateral economic and trade cooperation, said Da, urging the Japanese government to listen to the rational voices of its business community, promptly correct its misguided policies, and bring China-Japan relations back onto a normal development track.

Chinese officials have also repeatedly called on the Japanese side to immediately correct its mistakes and work to stabilize ties.

In May, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong said that at present, China-Japan relations are facing serious difficulties. The root cause lies in the erroneous words and actions of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and the responsibility rests entirely with the Japanese side, said spokesperson said.

"We urge Japan to face up to the source of the problem, earnestly reflect and correct its mistakes, and create the necessary conditions for normal exchanges between China and Japan," said He.

Global Times