Japanese auto major Toyota has suspended part of its production at its biggest plant in China due to sluggish sales in the country after bilateral ties soured over the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The Tianjin plant is Toyota’s largest in China and assembly lines halted production on Monday, the company announced but all staff are working as usual.
The plant produces vehicles, such as Corolla, Crown, RAV4 and Vios.
Annual production of the plant is 500,000, accounting for 60 per cent of the company’s total production volume in China.
The move follows a drastic sales volume drop in the country since the Diaoyu Islands territorial dispute broke out between China and Japan.
“The tense Sino-Japan relations has affected sales of Toyota automobiles in China, and it is a common practice for a company to adjust production volume based on market demand and orders,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a Toyota spokesman as saying.
Japanese businesses in China were hit after Japan purchased the disputed islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from a private owner, which Beijing has termed as “stealing” its property.
“The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets belong to China and have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times. China holds indisputable sovereignty over them,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said this week.
The move set off violent protests in China, and a widespread call to boycott Japanese goods. Toyota and Honda dealerships were burned down in one city.
At the Toyota outlet in Tianjin, customer numbers have decreased by 30 per cent, the report said.
New data released by Japan showed exports to China dropped by 14.1 per cent in September to $12 billion.
Sino-Japan bilateral trade last year amounted to $ 345 billion.