Against the background of the strict corona rules in China, EU companies have called on the government in Beijing to change course.

Curfews, significant restrictions on entry and other strict measures are a heavy burden on business from the point of view of the EU Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.

China must take away the fears of companies and "win back trust with a clear plan," said Chamber Vice President Bettina Schön-Behanzin in the mood survey among member companies presented on Monday.

The situation cannot be brought under control with mass tests and lockdowns.

“China needs to open its borders.

It has all the means for a great comeback,” says Schön-Behanzin.

The Chinese economy came under pressure in the first half of the year due to the strict measures to contain the corona virus.

Several million people were affected by curfews.

The economic metropolis of Shanghai has been in a complete lockdown for two months since the beginning of April.

Although the situation has improved slightly, there is still a great deal of uncertainty.

Mood significantly deteriorated

As in the previous year, EU companies in the business climate survey named the corona measures as by far the most serious problem they were facing in China.

A supplementary survey, which was only carried out by the chamber after the major lockdown in Shanghai and the outbreak of the Ukraine war, showed that the mood had deteriorated significantly again.

Both events had "significant destabilizing effects on the China activities of European companies".

Three quarters of members reported that the stricter containment measures had negatively impacted their operations.

92 percent complained about supply chain problems caused by port closures and rising freight costs.

23 percent of those surveyed said they were considering putting new investments on hold.

According to Schön-Behanzin, recruiting new staff from Europe is also a major challenge.

"It's difficult to find someone who still wants to travel to China." Lockdowns, long quarantine periods and fewer and fewer available flights have triggered a true "exodus".

In order to ease the situation in China, the chamber recommended that the government use more effective mRNA vaccines.

The People's Republic should be based more on the Singapore model, said Schön-Behanzin.

The Southeast Asian city-state initially imposed very strict measures more than two years ago after the start of the corona pandemic.

However, after achieving a high vaccination rate, Singapore continued to return to normal.

According to the chamber, in addition to the corona measures, the companies again had to contend with numerous other difficulties in their activities in China.

43 percent of the companies stated that they continue to suffer from market access restrictions or regulatory barriers.

More than one in three companies said they were treated less favorably than companies based in China.

14 percent of the companies were reportedly forced to transfer technology to China.