Popularity of Learning Japanese in China

"Even if we don't like them, we know there is a lot we can learn from them." --quote of a Chinese manager in China regarding his opinion of the Japanese during my internship in 2004 in Beijing.

There is word that has come about in Japan to describe the country's relationship with China--that word in Japanese is: 政冷経熱. The characters mean "cold political ties, hot business ties" in terms of feeling. The news and numbers don't lie. While scores of articles have described the chilled relations between Japanese and Chinese politicians (although hopefully now thawing), the business press has noted the accelerating growth of Japanese FDI targeting the Chinese mainland, which reached $6 billion last year.

The growing presence of Japanese businesses on the mainland and their resulting investments in physical capital and human capital has caught the eyes of the Chinese, especially those youth graduating with the increasing possibility of entering a foreign company. Japanese language schools and course enrollment at universities have increased considerably. Chinese realize that there are careers and money to be made in working with the Japanese and have not hesitated to shore up their language skills for extra advantage.

On October 16, JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) announced trends for its "Business Japanese" test as offered in China. Translated into English:

"Business Japanese Gains in Popularity: Chinese Testing Locations to Increase"

For the business Japanese proficiency test offered by JETRO, test takers in China have increased considerably. For this year's test in November, the number of test takers has increased 47% from last year. With Prime Minister Abe's recent visit to China, it is expected that there will be improvements to the Japan-China relationship, and thus JETRO plans to look into additional testing locations on the mainland.

This is a positive development for the Japan-China relationship. If today's youth are to eventually be future leaders of China, it will be important to have amongst them several fluent in Japanese and understanding of the Japanese culture and history in relation to China's own culture and history. The same goes for Japan.