Foreign execs' view on China's economy: 2023 onward

Editor's note: The Chinese economy has maintained growth and resilience in 2023, as the country expands high-level opening-up and emphasizes high-quality development.

How do multinational executives evaluate the performance of their companies, their industries, as well as China's business environment? What are their expectations for 2024? Let's take a look.

Q1: How has your company's performance been in China this year? Do you plan to expand your footprints in China next year?

A1: We see a clear trend that the transport market is moving toward efficiency, sustainability and compliance, all which benefit Scania's products and services. We therefore look with great confidence to the future.

Q2: What's your evaluation and expectations on China's business environment as well as a higher level of opening-up?

A2: In the automotive industry, the previous JV ownership restrictions have been lifted, which has benefited foreign OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), including Scania. This, coupled with clearer rules, regulations, and policies, will make the business environment more predictable and lead to a better level playing field, which is welcomed by foreign as well as domestic companies. We are constructively engaging with relevant ministries and industry associations on some of these issues.

Q3: What are your expectations for China's economy in 2024?

A3: We expect gradual recovery and a continued focus on coming to terms with the structural challenges in the economy. This is of course no quick fix, but will be crucial to safeguard coming decades of healthy growth in China.

Q1: How has your company's performance been in China this year? Do you plan to further expand your footprints in China next year?

A1: This year, A&M has significantly extended its offering in China and across Asia by scaling up its performance improvement and transaction advisory group teams, including senior hires in China.

This demonstrates our company's commitment to delivering world-class services and solutions to meet client demand in the dynamic business landscape of the region.

A&M recognizes the importance of the Chinese market and firmly believes in the long-term growth and transformation of the Chinese market.

Q2: What's your evaluation and expectations on China's business environment as well as a higher level of opening-up?

A2: China is one of the largest trading partners for many major global economies, with its cross-border trade and outbound investments from China expected to continually grow. All these factors are driving demand for advisory services for international companies and Chinese corporations operating globally.

Q3: What are your expectations for China's economy in 2024?

A3: China has entered a new economic cycle of quality growth. The new development model creates a significant market demand for business transformation, outbound expansion, and M&As. Improving cost efficiency to refocus/reinvest in business has also become a vital pivot for businesses to capture market upside. These areas align well with A&M's expertise, making us well-positioned to help our clients.

We anticipate further healthy and sustainable economic development in China in 2024 and beyond.

Q1: How has your company's performance been in China this year? Do you plan to further expand your footprints in China next year?

Despite the cyclical challenges facing the global and domestic economies, we continued to deliver exceptional service and outcomes to our clients. CBRE led real estate investment sales activity in China in the first half this year, according to MSCI Real Assets, and was constantly awarded as cooperation partners by local government bodies because of our extensive global and local business network.

Meanwhile, we expanded and renovated four of our 10 offices in the Chinese mainland to improve the work environment and provide better support for our people.

To deepen our footprint in China, we will not only evolve to meet the expanding needs of our local clients and stakeholders, but also align CBRE's business strategy with China's ongoing economic and social transformation.

Q2: What are your expectations for China's economy in 2024?

In the intricate and dynamic global landscape, the Chinese economy demonstrates resilience as it charts a course of high-quality growth.

Gradually over the past 20 years, the drivers of China's economic growth have shifted from exports, investments, and demographic benefits to newer, more potent forces such as industrial innovation and enhanced consumption.

As we move into the next year, the Chinese economy will continue to evolve toward a stage of high-quality growth, underscoring the importance of sustainable economic development, economic restructuring, industrial enhancement, and improvements in the quality of life.

Q1: How has your company's performance been in China this year? Do you plan to further expand your footprints in China next year?

We are glad with the results and our overall growth. We see promising opportunities for projects in our IT business, especially in the areas of cloud technology and artificial intelligence. Therefore, we are very optimistic about 2024 and plan to further expand our business during the coming year.

Q2: What's your evaluation and expectations on China's business environment as well as a higher level of opening-up?

We see significant challenges but also opportunities in the digitization of companies. Companies need to digitize not only to remain competitive but also to prepare for the upcoming innovations that IT brings. We expect an even higher level of opening-up in business and are prepared for successful collaboration with our customers.

Q3: What are your expectations for China's economy in 2024?

The Chinese economy has performed better than many experts expected in 2023, and we believe that the growth will stabilize in 2024. Therefore, China's economy is expanding and is consequently very interesting.