Latest survey results

The key findings from Professor Gan Jie’s 2020 Q4 report are as follows:

The Business Sentiment Index (BSI) stood at 50, except for a slight contraction in Q1, the business sentiment remained flat in the last three quarters. Domestic orders showed a slight expansion while foreign orders shrank. The proportion of firms with expansionary investment dropped from 2% in 2019 Q4 to 1%. Weak demand continued to pose the biggest challenge for the industrial economy Cost rises became more prominent in 2020 Q4. The proportion of firms without any R&D spending increased significantly from 65% in 2019 to 80% in 2020. Moreover, none of firms reported R&D spending over 5% of sales.

When asked about confidence about economic outlook over the next 3-5 years, half of the firms (68%) were either “optimistic” (5%) or “cautiously optimistic” (63%). Sentiment towards China’s legal institutions have improved. When asked, “On a scale of 0-10, what is the likelihood that the legal system will uphold your contract and property rights in business disputes (0 being the worst)?”, the firms’ average rating of the legal environment increased from 7.7 in 2019 to 8.4 in 2020.

The full survey can be downloaded via the links below (Chinese version available here).

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Professor Gan, please email jessicawang@ckgsb.edu.cn.