CHINA GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHICAGO
Trade | Cooperation | Localization
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On June 10, the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC) and CGCC Foundation released 2019 Business Survey Report in Washington D.C. The survey report launch focused on investment strategies, management and challenges related to Chinese investment in the U.S. About 400 American and Chinese executives from CGCC member companies, distinguished scholars and experts have attended the event.
Peter Reisman, Co-Chair of the CGCC Government and Public Relations Committee, Managing Director and Chief Communications Officer at Bank of China USA, hosted the survey report launch. Mr. Steven Tan, Vice Chairman of CGCC, Chairman of CGCC-DC Chapter and President of China Telecom Americas, delivered welcome remarks, emphasizing that this is a crucial year for China-US economic relations, which means empirical fact-finding, like this report, is more important than ever. According to Mr. Tan, the report puts into perspective the benefits and necessity of Chinese investments to the US economy, and to the overall health of our bilateral relations.
Evan Pan, the Research Associate at China General Chamber of Commerce-USA, presented key findings of the survey report. The survey report focuses on the greenfield investment and localized business management, gathering and accessing what executives are thinking and how they are striving to growth and solving for business issues with many uncertainties. A panel discussion entitled “Chinese Investment in the US: The Path Forward” following the presentation provided unique insights along with best practices for both U.S. and Chinese businesses operating in the U.S. Craig Allen, President of the US-China Business Council, moderated the panel. The panelists included Elsie Pan, Director of Financial Services Advisory at PwC, Peter Cleveland, Deputy General Counsel at Intel Corporation, Justin Kocher, Senior Manager of Business Development, Asia, at JobsOhio, Jeff Liu, President of Fuyao Glass America, and Brian Connors, Executive Director of the Michigan-China Innovation Center. The panelists shared their thoughts with the audience regarding the survey report and experience with the U.S. market for Chinese companies. The panel covered various topics from trade war influences, corporate coping system, and trust building strategies between Chinese and US companies. Panelists also discussed the recent US policy environment and influences of trade tensions on their businesses. At the end of the panel, Mr. Allen concluded that, “From a macroeconomic standpoint, we should recognize that long-term Chinese foreign direct investment in our economy gives us greater resiliency, diversity and opportunity.”
Despite the increasingly combative tone and restrictive policies, CGCC members are generally committed to developing their business in the US market and improve the future of the US and China business relationship. At the end of the survey report launch, Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky, delivered the closing remarks through video message. “Our trading relationships have the ability not only to help our countries, but to help our entire regions of the world and of the world itself,” he emphasized. “This is the great opportunity before us, I thank you for being part of the discussion to figure out how we are going to seize this opportunity and make it everything that it has the potential to be.”
The Annual Business Survey Report has been conducted by CGCC for six consecutive years. In 2019, CGCC cooperated with PwC and jointly developed the business survey report. Facing the increasingly intense US-China relations, relevant questions regarding the trade war and policy changes were added accordingly to gain updated insights of enterprises’ responses and coping strategies. This year, more than 1000 questionnaires were distributed and 240 effective responses were collected. The survey findings were supplemented with in-depth interviews and commentary from eight CGCC Chinese member companies, which allows the report to tell success stories and experiences alongside the research findings.
