Shanghai, China – A record share of U.S.โฃ businesses are divertingโข or planning to divert investments outโ of China, โคaccording to a new โคsurvey released Monday by teh American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham โShanghai). The annual China โBusiness Climate Survey reveals that 24% of โขcompanies have โฃshifted or are considering shifting investments toโ choice locations,marking a significant increase from 19% inโข 2023.
This shift comes despite reported improvements in China’s regulatoryโ environment and ongoing efforts by Beijing to attractโข foreign capital. While nearly โhalf (48%) of businesses now perceive the regulatory โlandscape as clear โ- a jump from 35% in โ2024 – โconcerns remain, particularly within the technology sector.โ The trend underscores growing geopolitical tensions and evolving โฃglobal supplyโฃ chains,possibly impacting China’s economic growth and foreign โinvestment inflows.
The survey,โค conducted in January, polled 381 member companies.It found a notable improvement in perceptions of regulatory clarity, with the share of businesses citing a lack of transparency โas hindering operations falling by 12 percentageโข points to 16%. Additionally, 37% of respondents indicated that foreign and local companies are treated equally, a โ5 percentage point increase.beijing has recently intensified it’sโค effortsโ to โwoo foreign investment, unveiling an “action plan” earlier this โฃyear aimed at easing investment in sectors like biotechnology and clarifying government โขprocurement standards. However, the AmCham Shanghaiโ data reveals that 14% of respondents still report a worsening business โenvironment in China,โ with the tech industry experiencing the most significant challenges, cited by 31% ofโ respondents in that sector.
