European Chamber Report Finds Significant Deterioration of Business Confidence in China Go back »

2023-06-21 | All chapters

Beijing, 21^st June 2023 – The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, in partnership with Roland Berger, today released its European Business in China Business Confidence Survey 2023 (BCS). The annual survey shows that there has been a significant deterioration of business sentiment.

Faced with growing risks and a more volatile operating environment, European companies have started reviewing their investment and operational strategies, and ensuring their supply chains are fit for more uncertain conditions.

• 64% of respondents reported that doing business in China became more difficult in the past year, the highest on record.
• 30% of respondents reported year-on-year (y-o-y) revenue decreases, an increase of 20 percentage points, and the highest on record.
• 11% of respondents have shifted existing investments out of China, and 8% have taken the decision move future investments previously planned for China elsewhere.
• One in ten report they have already shifted, or plan to shift, their Asia headquarters (HQ) or business unit HQ out of Mainland China.
• There has been a 13-percentage point reduction y-o-y in the number of respondents that view China as a top-three destination for future investments.
• 75% have reviewed their supply chain strategies over the past two years, with 24% reporting plans to at least partially onshore their supply chains into Mainland China and 12% having already shifted parts of them out of the country.

Decoupling of HQ and China operations has increased primarily to manage risk, with nearly three quarters of respondents having localised IT and data storage infrastructure. Significant localisation of company staff has also taken place over the last half decade, with 16% reporting their China operations no longer employ any foreign nationals.

These developments come at a considerable cost to companies and to China. The need to create divergent systems for China and the rest of the world means that the overall efficiency brought by global economies of scale is lost; and the reduction of foreign nationals is resulting in reduced transfer of knowhow and best practices, communication difficulties, deferred investment plans, and even China operations being closed.    

“The negative trends we see in this year’s survey are concerning and reflect both recent challenges—brought by uncertainties in China’s policy environment and rising geopolitical tensions—and the persistence of long-standing market access barriers,” said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. “For China to turn the tide and allow European companies to develop and contribute to their full potential, we really need to see concrete action.”

“Unless further steps are taken to address the uncertainties confronting companies, then the trend of supply chain diversification is likely to strengthen in the medium-term,” said Denis Depoux, global managing director of Roland Berger. “Many European companies are now focusing more on how to make their China operations more durable instead of capturing greater market share, which is not good for competition.”

Download the report here.

中国欧盟商会报告指出欧洲在华企业信心显著下降

北京2023年6月21日—中国欧盟商会联合罗兰贝格今日发布《商业信心调查2023》。本年度调查结果表明，欧洲在华企业信心明显下降。

由于潜在风险日益增加，营商环境愈加动荡，欧洲企业现已开始重新审视其投资和经营策略，以确保其供应链可以应对各种不确定性因素。

• 64%受访企业表示过去一年在华运营难度增加，这一比例为历史最多。
• 30%受访企业表示其营收同比下降，同比增加了20个百分点，为历史新高。
• 11%受访企业已将对华投资转移至其他市场，8%受访者已变更未来对华投资决策并将资金转投至其他市场。
• 十分之一受访企业表示已经或计划将其亚洲总部或业务部门总部迁出中国大陆。
• 视中国为未来投资目的地前三的受访企业同比降低13个百分点。
• 75%受访企业曾在过去两年重新审视其供应链策略。其中24%受访企业表示计划至少将部分供应链转移至中国境内，12%表示已将部分供应链转移到中国大陆以外。

为管控风险，总部与中国业务日益“脱钩”。近四分之三受访企业表示其IT和数据存储设施已实现本地化。在过去的五年中，公司员工本土化程度显著，16%受访企业表示其中国业务已无外籍雇员。

这既不利于欧洲在华企业的发展也不利于中国。为中国及世界其他各地建立两个不同的体系意味着全球经济规模带来的总体效率的降低；外籍雇员流失也会导致知识和经验交流的减少、产生沟通障碍；企业可能因此推迟投资计划、甚至关闭在华业务。

中国欧盟商会主席彦辞表示：“本年度报告中提及的负面趋势令人担忧。这体现了近期中国政策环境不确定性和地缘政治紧张局势带来的挑战，以及根深蒂固的市场准入壁垒。我们期待政府采取具体措施，扭转局势，让欧洲企业贡献其潜力助力中国经济发展。”

 罗兰贝格全球管理委员会联席总裁戴璞先生表示："若不能拿出更多方案解决企业面临的不确定性，供应链多样化趋势可能会愈演愈烈。许多欧洲企业如今更为关注如何让其在华业务更具韧性，而非争取更多市场份额。这不利于竞争。"

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