China Loses Allure as European Firms Rethink Investments, EU Chamber Says

(Bloomberg) — China’s focus of political goals like “zero Covid” over economic objectives is making the country less appealing to European companies as a place to invest, a business group said, calling on Beijing to refocus on reform.

Recent Chinese policy decisions mean the country is now seen as “less predictable, less reliable and less efficient” according to the report published Wednesday by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. This has led to a loss of confidence in China and firms are increasingly looking to shift planned or future investments to other markets that are seen as providing “greater reliability and predictability,” the paper said.