American businesses in China can no longer be relied upon as “positive anchor” in relations between the two countries after years of unfulfilled commitments, a report has warned. The American Chamber of Commerce in China said on Wednesday in its newly published white paper on China’s business climate that restoring trust will be critical to overcome problems such as long-standing complaints about market access and the discriminatory barriers faced by foreign firms.
“As foreign companies have seen their prospects in certain industries narrowed because of China’s own goals for Chinese companies to take a certain market share in domestic markets, they have felt less enthusiastic about the opportunity to invest here,” Tim Stratford, chairman of the group and a former official at the US Trade Representative’s office (USTR), said.
