Japan to boost spending to promote local chip production - Nikkei

FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians wearing protective masks, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, walk underneath Japanese national flags at a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is planning to increase spending to ramp up local production of advanced semiconductors and batteries under this year's growth agenda, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Under the draft growth blueprint set to be finalised as early as June, the government will also promote large-scale investment to develop batteries for electric vehicles, the paper said on Wednesday, without citing sources.