WASHINGTON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies doing business in the United States have the apparent fear that the country's business environment becomes "less welcoming" as a result of trade frictions between the two sides, a survey released Monday by a China-U.S. business group said.
The China General Chamber of Commerce - USA (CGCC) said in its 2019 Annual Business Survey Report that increasingly protectionist policies in the United States have resulted in a trade war with, and declining investments from, China.
"The fear that the trade war creates a less-welcoming business environment for Chinese companies is apparent. This environment's uncertainty shakes our members' confidence and discourages them from making further investments in the U.S.," CGCC Chairman Chen Xu said.
According to the New York-based group, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States, whose "exponential growth" started in 2013 and peaked in 2016 and 2017, dropped drastically in 2018 and early 2019.
The top three sectors among the companies responding to the survey cover industrials, energy and financials, the report showed. Other members' businesses involve consumer discretionary, materials, real estate, health care, consumer staples, information technology, telecommunications services and others.
Some 47 percent of the companies surveyed said their revenues in 2018 remained the same in comparison with 2017, 20 percent saw revenue increase by 20 percent, and 7 percent suffered revenue loss of more than 20 percent, the survey showed.
As enthusiasm for developing the high-tech industry grows in China, a new challenge for Chinese companies doing business in the United States, as is cited by the report, involves "complying with emerging and often inconsistent data sovereignty and privacy laws."
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