The 17th annual exchange between Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (JEMA) and China Household Electrical Appliances Association (CHEAA) takes place in Tokyo on December 5 2018. This year marks the 30th anniversary of CHEAA as well as the 70th of JEMA. At the meeting, both sides express their recognition of the annual exchange for the role it plays in promoting the communication and cooperation between home appliance industries in each country.
Jiang Feng, President of CHEAA, introduces the 30th anniversary ceremony of CHEAA and the performance of Chinese home appliance industry from January to September 2018. Manabu Takamoto, President of JEMA, introduces the performance of Japanese home appliance industry in 2018. According to him, Japanese home appliance industry develops well in the first half of 2018 amid the global economic recovery, and its mid and long-term development is promising. He is concerned with the rising protectionism in global trade.
Sales value of white goods in Japan posted 2.3665 trillion Yen in 2017, 101.7% of the year before; brown goods (audio and video products) 1.2811 trillion Yen, 96.4% of the previous year, a fall for the first time in two years; sales value of home appliances 3.6476 trillion Yen, 96.4% of the year before, a drop for the first time in three years, according to JEMA. It is learned that replacement demands and smartization is the major driving force behind the growth of Japanese home appliance industry. In terms of international trade, export value of white goods registered 326.2 billion Yen in 2017, 109.9% of the previous year, same level of 2013-2015; import value grew by 6.3% year-on-year to 961.2 billion Yen. From January to October 2018, domestic sales value of white goods posted 2.292 trillion Yen, a year-on-year growth of 3.2%, thanks to the exciting sales of air conditioners and refrigerators driven by hot summer days, and the rising momentum of value-added products such as smart appliances and energy-efficiency appliances.
After that, JEMA introduces three policies regarding smart appliances.
With the proliferation of smart appliances and online services offered in retailing and other industries, the Information Economy Division of Commerce and Information Policy Bureau under Japan’s Ministry of Economy is looking at polices regarding smart life. The division is collecting feedbacks on issues including data quality, product safety and privacy protection.
JEMA also briefs the progress of regulations regarding remote control devices in Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law. As of November 28th, JEMA has finished an interim report, which requires electrical appliances be compliant with Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law when sold with remote control devices which include software, controllers, smart speakers and smart phones designed by or made by appliance makers.
What’s more, it is learned that, Japan’s Smart House/Building Standardization and Business Promotion Study Group has been working on safety issues emerging in services provided through cloud platforms since December 2017. JEMA is currently asked to specify safety responsibilities outside the jurisdiction of Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law, which has not yet been documented.
CHEAA also introduces the performance of Chinese home appliance industry as well as the progress in standards and laws at the meeting.
Both sides expect more communications and cooperation in terms of smart appliances, and confirm their next annual meeting at AWE 2019 in Shanghai.