One in 10 US
companies operating in China have removed the nation from their list of
top-three priority destinations for global investment in 2013 due to rising
labour costs and slower growth, a survey showed on Friday.
The survey, conducted by the American Chamber of
Commerce in China, said 68 per cent of companies rated China among their top
three investment priorities in 2013, down 10 percentage points from last year.
"People are a little bit less focused on
China," said Grey Gilligan, chairman of the chamber.
The economic slowdown in Europe means it is a good
time to make acquisitions. "There is a substantial amount of Chinese
foreign direct investment going into the European Union. American investors are
also observing these opportunities," he said.
Many companies are also thinking about the US market
amid the ongoing recovery there, and some manufacturing jobs in certain
industries are returning to the US.
"Right now, energy prices in the US are quite
low, particularly natural gas and unconventional oil, so for some parts of the
petrochemical industry, the US is more competitive today than it was two or
three years ago and it will be more competitive in the future," he said.
US companies still witnessed strong performance in
China, with 71 per cent posting sales growth in 2012, while 44 per cent said
the profit margins for their China operations are higher than their global
average.
"The attraction of China is still quite high.
Maybe in the past, they would say, China is clearly number one, but now they
will say, we have a few options and China may be one of the top three," he
said.
After seeing negative growth for eight consecutive
months, China attracted US$8.21 billion in global foreign direct investment in
February, up 6.32 per cent year-on-year.
Although 78 per cent of respondents were optimistic
about business in China over the next two years, only 18 per cent said they
planned to substantially expand their investments in the coming 12 months.
Lan Lan
China Daily
Business & Investment Opportunities
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