Panasonic Holdings (TYO:6752) relocated some of its production to China to take advantage of the country being the biggest free trade area of the world, as well as its lower tariffs, engineer workforce and favorable supply chain, Yicai Global reported Thursday, citing a company executive.

The Japanese electronics giant moved the production of vacuum insulation panels to Chongqing and refrigerator compressors to Wuxi. Thailand used to be the location of the company's vacuum insulation panel production, while the manufacturing of refrigerator compressors used to be in Malaysia and Singapore, Executive Vice President Tetsuro Homma told the media outlet at the China International Import Expo.

Homma said tariffs between China and many Asian countries were reduced as a result of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which was implemented in 2022.

Panasonic is also revamping its production layout while considering marketing Chinese-made home appliances to the Asia-Pacific region, Homma said.

The company's shares slipped less than 2% in recent trade.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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