A survey conducted by the British Chamber of Commerce in China revealed that British firms found it difficult to conduct business this year. The survey showed that a quarter of the respondents claimed that state-owned enterprises were favored than their institutions. Thus, they found it harder to adapt to the slowing Chinese economy.
The South China Morning Post reported that half of the British companies operating in China found it difficult to adjust their business operations with continued regulatory changes imposed by the country. They claimed to have experienced unfair treatment over state-owned enterprise thereby affecting future British ventures in China since 2018.
According to the survey, 31 percent of British companies raised the issue. This year, about 40 percent of the British survey participants experienced the same issue. The survey was released last Tuesday.
The survey also revealed that 60 percent of British businesses operating in China are still set on increasing their investments in the country by 2020. According to Bloomberg, British firms believed that China has great market potential being the world's second-largest economy.
About 249 British companies were surveyed by the British Chamber of Commerce in China. It was revealed that these British firms yielded a combined annual revenue of £22 billion this year.
Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China St. John Moore claimed that the decline in the Chinese economy also caused global economic uncertainty among the participating firms. Moore said that the issues have been weighing in on the British business community in China and that they remain hopeful that the Chinese business environment would improve in the coming years. These firms also manifested their expectations of China in incorporate favorable changes in the coming year particularly lowering the interest rates on selected investments which would favor them as well.
The report indicated that since 2018, Beijing has been focusing on making its state-owned enterprises self-reliant. It was mentioned that the issues were a result of China's initiative to reduce its economy's dependence on overseas markets as tensions in the China-US trade war escalate.
The survey also showed that British companies engaged in the construction, energy, engineering, and travel, tourism and leisure sectors experienced the alleged favoritism practice.
The report also indicated that there had been a 54 percent drop from 65 percent on the business confidence of foreign firms operating in China. Moore then added that if British firms continue to experience the same issues in 2020, they are hopeful that China would opt to improve their commitment to foreign market players and impose reforms.
