Japanese survey: 36.6% of Japanese-funded corporate headquarters are pessimistic about the situation in Hong Kong

The Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Hong Kong Office, and the Hong Kong Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted a survey on Hong Kong's business environment in the second half of 2021 in early January.

The results showed that 36.6% of the interviewed Japanese companies said their headquarters were pessimistic about the situation in Hong Kong, while 7.6% were optimistic.

The investigation team visited 232 Japanese-funded enterprises from January 3 to January 7.

Among the companies that were pessimistic about the situation in Hong Kong, 42.9% said their headquarters had ordered or urged them to consider downsizing their offices or operations in Hong Kong.

69.8% of the companies surveyed said that compared with January 2021, the business environment in Hong Kong in January 2022 had not changed, while 21.0% of the companies said that the business environment had "seriously deteriorated" or "deteriorated".

Hong Kong: The picture shows an interior view of a shopping mall in Hong Kong on March 26, 2020.

(Getty)

68.1% of the companies surveyed said that the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic is the main reason for the deterioration of their business in the second half of 2021.

14.3% of companies pointed to the economic performance of mainland China as the main reason.

The investigation team also interviewed Japanese-funded enterprises' views on the "Hong Kong National Security Law".

51% of the companies surveyed said they were "very concerned" or "concerned" about the "National Security Law in Hong Kong", and 12.5% ​​of the companies surveyed said that the law had a negative impact on their business.

The survey also asked about the impact of the "Hong Kong National Security Law" on business. 66.9% of the respondents said there was no impact, 12.5% ​​said it had a negative impact, and 20.2% said they didn't know.

75.3% of the companies surveyed indicated that there was no significant impact on the Hong Kong office.

US media: Multinational companies worry about the impact of politics on the business environment, consider withdrawing from Hong Kong Trump signed the "Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act" British media: May affect Hong Kong's business environment The World Bank's "Doing Business Report" China's ranking rises, high-level pressure?

Former CEO denies World Bank's decision to stop publishing report after being accused of pressure to improve Doing Business country rankings