A quarter of foreign investors surveyed by the European Chamber of Commerce in China are planning to cut jobs as the country’s economic growth slows to its lowest level in a quarter of a century.
“The outlook is more pessimistic than it has ever been,” said Joerg Wuttke, the chamber’s president. “[China’s economic] transition seems to be difficult. No European companies are leaving but headquarters are putting less into China.”
The chamber’s annual business confidence survey covered 541 European businesses. Of the almost 40 per cent of respondents who said they were planning to cut costs in China, two-thirds said they were contemplating employee lay-offs.