National News
Foreign Businesses In China Are Increasingly Concerned About The Future
For a country that has successfully attracted major investments over the years from multinationals as diverse as Starbucks, Intel, Disney and GM, the message from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in May was relatively downbeat. Regulatory restrictions hurt business at half of companies that participated in a recent chamber survey; some 22% of the respondents said they may move their projects elsewhere as a result. That comes on top of consecutive year-on-year declines in foreign investment in each of the five months to April, and long-standing concerns about piracy and unfair competition.
Change of direction
It was billed as one of the biggest foreign investment deals in China in recent times. But little did those who had gathered in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, on a bright and sunny day in April know the real impact of the $7-billion (5.5 billion euros) Samsung Electronics deal vis-a-vis FDI in China (see page 16-17).
Close on the heels of the South Korean investment came the news that German auto major Volkswagen AG was planning to invest $210 million in an automobile unit in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Thomas Donohue and Dean Garfield: Protectionism Is Back
Thanks to innovation and the people across our economy who power it, the stuff of imagination today becomes reality tomorrow. The tablet computer appeared in "2001: A Space Odyssey" some 40 years before it was in our shoulder bags. Buck Rogers's stage-prop laser guns fought intergalactic villains in the 1930s, decades before scientists in the real world harnessed that power to restore people's eyesight.
Read more中国商务部：欧企没有大规模撤出中国
中国商务部周三向道琼斯通讯社(Dow Jones Newswires)表示，欧洲企业没有大规模撤出中国。中国欧盟商会(European Union Chamber of Commerce in China)此前警告称中国可能出现投资外流。
中国欧盟商会上个月公布的欧洲企业调查显示，22%的受访企业表示可能会将投资转向中国以外的地区，理由包括中国在市场准入方面的监管壁垒以及对劳动力成本上升和中国经济增长放缓等更广泛经济问题的担忧。
中国商务部周三公布，今年前四个月，来自欧盟的外商直接投资较上年同期减少28%；但补充称，欧洲企业撤离并非大规模现象。
商务部称，复杂环境导致外商直接投资下降，如欧洲债务危机日益深化、国内土地和劳动力成本不断上升，以及其他新兴经济体为吸引外资展开竞争等。
商务部还强调了政府为了向在华国际企业提供更加公平的商业环境而实施的一些政策，其中包括加强知识产权保护以及为外国投资者建立申诉机制等。
China Bond Market Is Ready for Takeoff
China is the opposite of other major economies when it comes to companies’ ability to raise money by issuing bonds.
China’s 4.2 trillion yuan ($666 billion) corporate bond market is just 9 percent of its gross domestic product. In the U.S., the $7.9 trillion in fixed-income securities is equal to more than half the size of economic output.
European Chamber referenced in Karel De Gucht speech on Chinese investment in Europe
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Jean Monnet is famous, in this town at least, for a great many things. But one of the most important is for his ability to push ahead even in difficult times. In his words, "what is important is neither to be optimistic, nor pessimistic but to be determined."
We are certainly at a moment in Europe when determination is required. The economic and political challenges before us are great enough for that.
In my field of work that means using all possible means to open markets so that they can, in turn, spur economic growth.
欧盟商会：22%受访企业考虑将投资转向中国以外地区
欧盟中国商会5月29日在京发布《中国欧盟商会商业信心调查2012》，通过其对557家企业的调查显示，由于中国劳动力成本不断上升以及监管环境不公平，有22%的受访企业在考虑将投资转向中国以外的地区，这些企业主要来自服消费品及服务企业，且在华经营时不足五年，规模较小的公司更有可能考虑转移资本。
Read moreLower barriers urged for jump in investment
China needs to speed up reforms to create more opportunities for foreign and local companies, leading business analysts have warned, as European and American companies complain of a restrictive regulatory environment in the country.
Read moreGroup says European companies might shift investment away from China due to market barriers
BEIJING — Frustrated by China’s market barriers, European companies might shift future investment to other economies, a business group said Tuesday, in an unusually pointed warning about a possible backlash over Beijing’s trade policies.
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