BEIJING — Uncertainty and “draconian regulations” have drastically raised risks for foreign businesses in China, a report by a European business group said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued an updated version of an action plan announced in July to promote more foreign investment, especially in high-tech areas favored for growth such as computer chips, biopharmaceuticals and advanced equipment. It promised tariff exemptions and called for stopping practices that discriminate against foreign companies.
“The business community would like both sides to be much more clear about the definitions of national security and how it’s determined," he said in an interview before an annual chamber banquet with Chinese officials. “Because what we need is ... predictability, and we need certainty.” At the same time, companies also face risks in cutting back and must bring their “best game” to China, while others feel too exposed, especially after the shocks of the pandemic, when entire cities were ordered into lockdown and factories suspended production at times.