Ties between foreign businesses and China go from bad to worse
THE RANKS of foreign businesspeople in Shanghai are much depleted these days. Those who remain closely monitor the comings and goings of multinational executives. So all eyes were on the Bund Summit, a globally minded economic and financial forum held in the city from September 22nd to 24th. In previous years the forum brought in A-list chief executives from around the world. The latest edition, the first since China lifted its draconian covid-19 restrictions and declared itself open for business, was expected to draw high-powered crowds once again.
Not so. Nearly ten months in, President Xi Jinping’s grand reopening from his zero-covid fiasco has been a big disappointment. Foreign investors believed that 2022, when quarantines threw China into a deep freeze, would be the bottom for sour sentiment. Instead the Chinese economy is creaking and cross-border investment flows have weakened. Foreign businesses have been raided by the authorities. On September 25th the Financial Times reported that Charles Wang Zhonghe, the China chairman of investment banking at Nomura International, a Japanese bank, had been banned from leaving China. Many foreign investors are skipping trips and putting off investment plans.
Those that are showing up in Beijing and Shanghai this year say the damage wrought by zero-covid is palpable. Some of this, like the deteriorating English-language skills of hotel workers, is superficial. Other problems cut to the bone. Local staff have been deprived of foreign travel for years, and so from mingling with a previously steady stream of colleagues, engineers and scientists. China’s legions of well-trained white-collared workers appear less prepared to engage with the rest of the world than they did a few years ago, the visitors lament.
2023-09-26 13:45:25
Source from www.economist.com
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