According to the British Chamber of Commerce in China, most British companies are taking a “wait and see approach” to new investments in China due to record pessimism.
Tuesday, the chamber’s annual position paper listed geopolitical tensions, a weakening global economy, self-sufficiency talk, and investor perceptions as the top business problems.
“British companies are willing and want to invest in China…there is, however, some uncertainty around that and that’s where the survey results we have give us a little cause for concern,” British Chamber chair Julian MacCormac told reporters in Beijing.
“Seventy percent of companies are saying it is too early to make these long-term commitments to the China market,” he continued.
AstraZeneca, BP, Jaguar Land Rover, and Shell are chamber members.
The chamber’s late-last-year survey found that 42% of enterprises were gloomy about China. Moreover, it indicated that the number has never exceeded single digits.
After China lifted COVID restrictions in April, a different study showed 8%.
Since China lifted its COVID-19 restrictions late last year, dollar-denominated FDI into the nation fell 3.3% in January-April.
According to the British National Bureau of Statistics, China was the UK’s fourth largest commercial partner last year, with 111 billion pounds ($140 billion) in trade.
The British Chamber urged China to clarify how new data security and taxes policies will be enforced to reduce “grey areas.”
“When something happens that isn’t necessarily explained, and where businesses are not consulted and it’s not clear where the boundaries are in terms of how a company operates, it creates uncertainty,” McCormack said in response to Chinese authorities’ recent raids of foreign due diligence firms.
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