The latest survey of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong: US companies in Hong Kong have increased confidence in Hong Kong's prospects
[Global Times report] The epidemic has made Hong Kong's business environment difficult, and the tension between China and the United States has added to the pressure on American companies in Hong Kong.
However, the latest survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong shows that US companies in Hong Kong are more confident in the business prospects of Hong Kong than last year.
Hong Kong media reported on the 20th that the survey was conducted from September to October last year and interviewed 262 members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, of which 151 were representatives of major companies and 111 were individual members.
According to the results of the "2022 Business Prospect Survey" released by the Chamber of Commerce on the 19th, the proportion of "very optimistic" and "optimistic" about business prospects in the next 12 months totaled 41%, and "very pessimistic" and "pessimistic" were 23%. "Neutral" accounted for 35%.
Regarding the performance of Hong Kong's business environment in the past 12 months, 21% of members rated it as "excellent" and "very good", 30% rated it as "good", 31% rated it as "average", and 18% rated it as "poor".
In last year's survey, 61% thought it was "unstable/getting worse".
This shows that the business environment of Hong Kong by US companies last year has been greatly improved compared to 2020.
Regarding whether US companies in Hong Kong plan to expand their investment in the next two years, 29% of the members said they would “expand their business”, only 15% said they would reduce their business, and 56% said their investment plans remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, 41 percent of companies said revenue increased, 9 percentage points more than those who said revenue declined, and 27 percent said revenue remained unchanged.
According to the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, 86% of the members surveyed mentioned that the deterioration of Sino-US relations has some impact on their business, but the biggest business challenge at present is Hong Kong's strict international travel restrictions, which outweigh Sino-US relations.
However, most respondents believe that Hong Kong is competitive as a global hub, with 6 out of 10 companies using Hong Kong as their global or regional headquarters. Free flow of capital, international connectivity and taxation are the three most competitive factors in Hong Kong.
Only 5% of companies surveyed have a clear plan to move their headquarters out of Hong Kong.
At the same time, the huge business opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have also attracted the attention of US companies.
The survey shows that 60% of the respondents already have business in the Greater Bay Area, 95% and 74% of US companies have business in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and 47% have business in Macau.
Regarding “Whether to expand business in the Greater Bay Area in the next 3 years”, 34% of the respondents said they would expand their operations, 7% said they would “expand significantly”, 56% “remain unchanged”, “reduce” or “reduce significantly” Only 2% and 1% respectively.
Guan Zhuozhao, director of the Guanyu Business and Economic Research Center, analyzed that although Washington wants US companies to cooperate with its strategy of suppressing China, companies do business with the goal of maximizing profits. US companies mainly focus on the economic prospects of Asia. An important springboard for foreign companies to enter the mainland market.