China is losing its attractiveness as a business location.
With the second largest economy moving away from the rest of the world and also sealing itself off in the pandemic, the view of the European Chamber of Commerce in China shows that “ideology trumps the economy”.
A new position paper under this title, which was presented on Wednesday, describes the growing challenges and laments an “increasing politicization”.
"China is no longer as attractive as it used to be," said Chamber President Jörg Wuttke when presenting the paper to journalists.
"There are a lot of problems in the system, and we are losing predictability, reliability and efficiency." The almost 1,000 recommendations in the document can return to necessary reforms and stabilize the Chinese economy, which is ailing.
"China can do better, we can do better."
While large corporations - above all German companies such as Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW and BASF - are still investing despite the discussion about excessive dependence on China, many others are holding back, according to a recent study.
Virtually nobody dares to make the leap to China anymore.
Many went directly to other countries.
Travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in China made face-to-face exchanges difficult.
"It's really a big concern because the world is moving on and not waiting for China."