Even as a number of Japanese companies have already shut down operations in China, the Ministry of Commerce announced that Japanese investments into the country continue to rise.

Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shen Danyang said newly-registered Japanese business in China grew 3.5 percent in January compared to the same period of last year.

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Contractual investment by Japanese investors also soared close to 47 percent in January while actual investment increased 3.2 percent.

Shen said the number of Japanese firms that have closed their plants in China still has not dampened the overall Japanese investments in the country.

Panasonic, Toshiba and Citizen have shut down some of their operations in the country but Shen said this is normal business activity.

"Indeed, some Japanese companies have closed their plants in China, but the number is still limited. When implementing their globalization strategies, certain multinationals will undertake measures, such as merger or reorganization to adjust their business layout across the world. This is normal business activity," Shen said

The move was attributed to a weaker yen and the rising wages in China. The ongoing rift between China and Japan over a parcel of island was not mentioned during the news conference in Beijing.

Shen said Japan is still among the 10 countries that are investing in the mainland.

Meanwhile, China saw about 348,200 newly-registered companies in January, a 37.74 percent rise year on year, thanks to the government efforts to streamline the process of starting a business.

The new companies registered in January brought the total number of registered companies in China to 70.18 million, statistics from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce showed.

The total registered capital of all types of registered market entities in the country reached 133.05 trillion Chinese yuan (about US$21.27 trillion).

The number of newly established firms continues to surge in China after the government lifted restrictions on minimum registered capital, payment deadlines, among others, on 1 March 2014.

TagsChina Japan Investment, Japanese Investment in China