Foreign Affairs

unhappycamper

(60,364 posts) Wed Jun 10, 2015, 07:47 AM Jun 2015

European firms less keen on doing business in China

http://www.dw.de/european-firms-less-keen-on-doing-business-in-china/a-18506304

Fewer companies in Europe plan to expand in China, according to a lobby group survey. A slowdown in China's economy and what is perceived as unfavorable treatment are cited as reasons for their pessimism.

European firms less keen on doing business in China
10.06.2015

A mere 55 percent of respondents in the latest survey by the European Chambers of Commerce said they are planning to expand their operations in China this year, down from 86 percent two years ago. Nearly two thirds plan to lay off staff to cut costs.

Just 28 percent said they were "optimistic" about their profitability in the country, an all-time low according to the Chamber.

"European companies fortunately know how to deal with difficulties," Jörg Wuttke, Chamber president, told the AFP news agency. "But the longer the companies are here in China, the less optimistic they are."

More than half of the 541 companies polled said foreign companies faced discrimination. Nearly two thirds of companies surveyed this year said an "unpredictable legal environment", was an obstacle to business, according to the survey.

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European firms less keen on doing business in China (Original Post) unhappycamper Jun 2015 OP

That and the chinese habit of copying everything. DetlefK Jun 2015 #1

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)

1. That and the chinese habit of copying everything.

Reply to unhappycamper (Original post)

Wed Jun 10, 2015, 07:58 AM

Jun 2015

There are tons of stories out there: How a foreign company used chinese workers in its plant in China, only to have these very workers spy on the company's methods and technological secrets and use this knowledge to found a rivalling chinese company.

Or I heard a story about an autoshow in Germany. The new models were shown and as soon as the guests were allowed near the cars, the Chinese got out their digital cameras and their rulers and started crawling over and under them and all over the place and measuring everything on the cars. (Not kidding.)

Or about 2 months ago I read an article about an expo that showed new electronic products. One booth presented a device that can turn any wooden box into a speaker... and a short bit down the hall there was a chinese booth that offered exactly the same product with EXACTLY the same looks. The big difference was that the chinese copycat product had shoddy soldering that would lead to dramatically worse performance.

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