NHK



 

The Japan External Trade Organization says business sentiment among Japanese companies in Asia and Oceania has worsened since last year.

JETRO carried out its annual survey from late August to late September. About 5,700 companies responded, or about 42 percent of those that were contacted.

The business sentiment index was 3.3, down 20.3 points from last year. The figure represents the difference between the percentage of companies that say business is improving and those that say it is worsening.

The largest decline was seen in South Korea, where the index was minus 15.7, or 22.5 points lower than last year's figure. It was followed by Hong Kong with minus 8.4 -- a drop of 14.3 points from last year. These are the lowest figures since 2009.

JETRO says the main factors behind the declines were the economic slowdown in China due to its trade dispute with the United States, the boycott of Japanese products in South Korea and the prolonged protests in Hong Kong.

Shinya Amano of JETRO's Overseas Research Department says the slowdown of the Chinese economy could adversely affect the rest of Asia.