Japanese firms set up Shanghai units to expand textile output

Japanese trading firms plan to expand textile production in the mainland, targeting markets in both countries. Itochu Corp plans setting up a local unit in Shanghai on November 1 to develop and produce textiles, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said yesterday. The firm would hire 50 people in two years and sell its product to Japanese textile firms as well as developing new materials for the local market. Mitsubishi Corp planned setting up a new firm in two years to control Mitsubishi's textile businesses in the mainland, the newspaper said. The Shanghai-based company would mainly develop textiles for the Japanese market.