- 24th annual report contains assessment of current operating environment and provides comprehensive list of recommendations for both governments.
- Longest ever White Paper reflects both the expansion of American business in China into new sectors and geographies, as well as unaddressed policy issues.
Beijing, May 17, 2022 – The American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) today releases the 24th edition of the American Business in China White Paper (White Paper), which lays out in detail a number of policy recommendations – both cross-sector and industry-specific – for the Chinese and US governments. This year’s edition contains 38 chapters covering developments over the past year, and includes 20 chapters on industry-specific issues, such as agriculture, banking, ICT, manufacturing, healthcare, and real estate, 12 chapters on industrial policy and market access, such as competition law, compliance, procurement, and taxes, and four chapters with a region-specific focus, covering central China, northeast China, Shanghai, and Tianjin.
Some of the key themes in this year’s White Paper, which was drafted by a collection of more than 100 members, include how ongoing COVID-19 prevention measures have decreased predictability and increased costs of China operations for businesses, a lack of regulatory clarity that has undermined business confidence in many sectors, a government-led emphasis on self-reliance that is creating additional uncertainty for foreign businesses, and a discussion of the many longstanding business challenges that remain.
That said, AmCham China members remain committed to the China market, as AmCham China Chairman Colm Rafferty explained: “The American Chamber of Commerce was founded in China more than 100 years ago. Since then, our member companies have made significant investments into the China market, and a majority of them continue to rank China as a top market priority. However, all companies – both domestic and foreign – are undoubtedly undergoing a challenging time right now. In the past, what has made China attractive to our member companies has been the country’s clear long-term strategic development goals, significant market opportunity, and a highly supportive and predictable business environment. But, today, our members feel that the business environment has become a lot less predictable, largely due to the pandemic and its related restrictions.”
“The launch of our 24th annual White Paper gives us time to reflect on the business environment in China,” continued Rafferty. “This year, the White Paper stretches to 600 pages – six times the length of our 2000 edition, which was the first year it became a standalone publication. That increase in length reflects both the expansion of American business in China into new sectors, issue areas, and geographies, as well as the fact that many challenges facing the business community remain unaddressed even while new policy developments have been added. Today, however, our challenges are more immediate: our most recent survey data tells us that 58% of our members have already decreased revenue projections for 2022, while 61% have experienced supply chain disruptions due to transportation and shipping issues. Most worryingly, members don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”
Contained within the White Paper is a Recommendation Scorecard, which tracks the progress made each year in all the areas of greatest significance, as determined by the perception of member companies. In 2022, most areas achieved either moderate or low success, although banking & capital markets was one of two sectors to see high progress in the area of credit rating, while domestic policy in agriculture was the only area to see no progress achieved.
Finally, the White Paper expands upon the Chamber’s three policy priorities for 2022. They are:
- Encourage action-based engagement between the US and China to create substantive and mutually beneficial initiatives and solutions on an issue-by-issue basis rather than unproductive values-based positioning,
- Resolve regulatory confusion and uneven policy implementation by encouraging timely and clear announcements of changes to enhance compliance capabilities, and
- Enrich cooperation and exchange in areas of global and bilateral importance.
To download the 2022 American Business in China White Paper, please go here (free for members). To join AmCham China, please contact the Membership team at membership@amchamchina.org. To purchase the White Paper directly, please click here.
About AmCham China – US-China Business: The Next 100 Years
The American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China (AmCham China) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization whose membership comprises tens of thousands of individuals from nearly 1,000 companies operating across China.
The Chamber’s nationwide mission is to help American companies succeed in China through advocacy, networking, insights, and business support services. AmCham China is officially registered as a foreign chamber of commerce in China and is licensed by China’s government to represent American business in mainland China. In addition to our headquarters in Beijing, AmCham China serves Tianjin, Central China, and Northeast China through our Chapters in Tianjin, Dalian, Shenyang, and Wuhan. Across the five offices, AmCham China has more than 30 Committees, and holds more than 150 events each year. Visit the Chamber’s website at www.amchamchina.org
For more information, please contact:
Mark Dreyer, Marketing & Communications Director, AmCham China