July 2017
This latest CEIBS survey is of particular interest not only for its findings but also because:
• It is the only survey that collects responses from both Chinese and foreign companies in China. Furthermore, this year’s edition contains once again a unique analysis of international and Chinese SMEs.
• This survey allows comparisons among firms of different national origins that operate in China and in particular comparisons between Swiss and Chinese companies.
• And it is the only business survey that is able to gather a sizeable sub-sample of foreign and Chinese SMEs in China.
For the Swiss business community, it is for the fifth time possible to understand how similarly Swiss, European and American companies perceive their China environment.
This year’s survey is marked by a measurable rebound in confidence, companies of all origins surveyed report a higher level of confidence for the coming year than they did last year.
Contrary to what is usually reported in the international media, western companies continue to succeed in the form of growing sales and profits in China, despite slower economic growth. In fact, in 2017 the expectation for improved sales is over 10 percentage points higher for large foreign companies and 25 percentage points higher for foreign SMEs when compared to 2016.
And while larger foreign companies have lower sales and profit expectations than their Chinese counterparts, foreign SMEs expect to do as well as Chinese ones.