BEIJING: Improved financial performance and easing China-US tensions have lifted confidence among United States businesses in China to its highest level after 2021, according to a survey report released on Thursday, signaling a brighter corporate outlook as bilateral trade relations stabilize.
The share of respondents who are optimistic about their five-year business outlook in China rose by 17 percentage points to 58 percent, reversing a four-year decline that had pushed the reading to successive record lows, according to the 2026 China Business Report, released by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. In contrast, 16 percent of respondents are pessimistic about their five-year business outlook in China, the lowest level since 2021, said the report.
It suggested that the improvement in business confidence has coincided with the easing of China-US trade tensions. However, US companies remain cautious about their business in China, keeping a close eye on the market environment and bilateral relations. This year’s survey followed several months of positive developments in China-US relations. According to the report, these developments signal a move toward a more predictable and constructive bilateral relationship anchored in strategic stability.
“Business confidence has made a critical comeback, supported by stronger financial performance and an improved geopolitical landscape,” Jeffrey Lehman, chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, and Eric Zheng, president of AmCham Shanghai, said in a joint message.
According to Lehman and Zheng, optimism about the five-year business outlook in China and the proportion of members reporting profitability last year both reached record levels.
Furthermore, a growing percentage of respondents expect their top-line growth to improve this year and outpace their companies’ global performance in the near term.
Meanwhile, “investment sentiment has recovered, with nearly one-third of respondents planning to increase investment this year”, the message added.
Profitability among the surveyed companies reached its strongest level since 2019, as 78 percent of respondents were profitable in 2025, up 7 percentage points from the previous year, said the report.
Due to differentiated industry dynamics and operating environments, performance continued to vary significantly by sector. Manufacturing, for example, remained the strongest-performing sector, with 85 percent of respondents reporting profits in 2025, a 5-percentage-point increase from the previous year. Services recorded the lowest rate among sectors at 69 percent, but showed a significant year-on-year improvement, rising 14 percentage points.
Fifty-five percent of the respondents said that the business environment in China is transparent, up 7 percentage points, the report showed.
“China will continue to open its economy wider to the world during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, while taking further steps to improve the business environment for foreign investors and ensure national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises,” said Zhou Haibing, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, during a roundtable meeting of the NDRC and US multinational enterprises in Beijing on Thursday.
Stressing the mutually beneficial nature of China-US economic and trade ties, Zhou said that a stable and predictable relationship serves the interests of both countries and the wider world.
China is home to 84,000 US-invested companies, with a combined annual revenue of nearly $700 billion, highlighting the strong complementarity and mutual benefits underpinning bilateral economic ties, he said.
Given the sheer scale of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, differences and frictions are only natural, Zhou added, noting that solutions can always be found as long as the two sides respect and understand each other and strengthen communication and consultation.
US companies’ confidence in growth and investment in China comes as foreign companies continue to expand their investment in the country, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Yan Dong, vice-minister of commerce.
The number of new foreign-invested enterprises in China grew 4.4 percent year-on-year during the first seven months of this year, with foreign direct investment in actual use amounting to 438.33 billion yuan ($65.35 billion), according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The increase was accompanied by an optimization in the investment structure, with investment in high-tech industries up 32.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 41.6 percent of the total.
“China is a training ground for US companies to maintain their global competitiveness,” Lehman and Zheng from AmCham Shanghai said in their joint message.
Chinese competitors raise the bar even higher. In the artificial intelligence sector, 43 percent of members view their local competitors as more advanced in AI adoption, the message added. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
