STORY: Japanese sewing machine giant sees great potential in Chinese market
DATELINE: June 28, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:38
LOCATION: TIANJIN, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Japanese sewing machine giant Pegasus's China branch in Tianjin
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): OKADA YOSHIHIDE, General manager of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.
3. various of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): OKADA YOSHIHIDE, General manager of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.
5. various of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.

STORYLINE:
　　
Established in 1994 in north China's Tianjin Municipality, Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pegasus Sewing Machine Mfg Co., Ltd., a century-old brand of industrial sewing machines from Japan.
　　
Through nearly 30 years of development, the subsidiary has evolved into Pegasus's most important production base and sales market on a global scale, with an annual output of over 100,000 sewing machines.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): OKADA YOSHIHIDE, General manager of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.
"China is the world's largest producer of sewing products. It has been our most important market since we established our subsidiary. Our subsidiary in Tianjin is the largest production base of our company with an annual output of more than 100,000 units of sewing machines.
I moved to Tianjin in 2005 and have been living and working here for nearly 20 years. When I first arrived in Tianjin, there was no direct flight between Tianjin and Osaka. I had to stop by in Beijing and the train from Tianjin to Beijing took about one and a half hours. Today, the development speed of Tianjin has amazed me. The roads and railway networks are very convenient. If I want to go to Shanghai for a business trip, I can go back and forth in a day."


According to data from the General Administration of Customs, trade between China and Japan reached 546.4 billion yuan (about 76 billion U.S. dollars) during the first quarter of this year, a size topping all the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) members.

Okada said as China's high-end sewing market thrives, Pegasus's newly-established R&D center in Tianjin will help the company cater to China's growing demand for high-performance, multi-functional sewing machines.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): OKADA YOSHIHIDE, General manager of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.
"China has a good business environment, a stable sales network, and a production chain. That's why we are willing to take root in Tianjin. Last year, our new R&D center was put into operation in Tianjin and we also gained the qualification of high-tech enterprise, which means that we regard Tianjin as our most important R&D base. We firmly believe that this will help our company further develop our business (in the Chinese market). We are also confident that we will continue to provide quality products and services to our customers. We will fully mobilize the R&D center to produce and promote new and better products to further expand our business in the Chinese market."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tianjin, China.
(XHTV)