Nikkei Chinese Edition recently reported that the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in China has released the results of a business climate questionnaire survey given to member companies. Regarding China’s economic outlook for 2024, around 60 percent of the member companies responded that they expected it to be “worse” or “slightly worse” compared with the previous year, an increase of ten percent compared to the last survey (50 percent) conducted in May. The number of companies that answered “about the same” accounted for 29 percent, a decrease of five percentage points from the previous survey. The number of companies that answered “improved’” was one percent, the same as last time. The number of companies that answered “slightly improved” was ten percent, a decrease of four percentage points. Respondents in the automotive, steel, non-ferrous metals, and materials were more likely to give pessimistic forecasts regarding China’s 2024 outlook. Regarding the level of investment in 2024, about 45 percent of the respondents said that they would “reduce investment” or “make no investment this year.” Some companies saw very fierce price reductions in sales, saying it is difficult to make a profit. Some also expressed concern over uncertainty in exports, as the United States is tightening trade controls against China.
Source: Nikkei Chinese, September 2, 2024
https://cn.nikkei.com/industry/management-strategy/56574-2024-09-02-09-39-47.html