With many of their manufacturing assembly lines being moved to China, Japanese firms are expected to step up their environmental and social development programmes in the mainland, a Japanese business leader says.
Yotaro Kobayashi, outspoken chairman of the board at Tokyo-based document management and copier giant Fuji Xerox, said that trend had emerged as 'China becomes more important to the strategic operations' of many large Japanese companies.
He said Fuji Xerox had moved to 'study and understand market needs' in the mainland, which had resulted in balancing the growth of manufacturing and sales activities with a fundamental commitment to enhancing community relations and environmental management.
Founded in 1962, Fuji Xerox is a joint venture between United States-based Xerox Corp and Fuji Photo Film.
Last November, Fuji Xerox said it was building a new plant specifically for the manufacture of emulsion aggregation (EA) toners in Japan.
The production of EA toners will allow the company to reduce harmful carbon-dioxide emission in the manufacturing process while achieving higher print quality for its imaging products.