Media Release – December 10, 2007
Attn: News / Business / China Editors

American and Hong Kong business leaders gave a strong vote of confidence in Hong Kong, as many prepare for growth and further investments in the SAR, according to results of the 2007 Business Outlook Survey, conducted by Nielsen for the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Highlights:

• An overwhelming 97% of 162 AmCham member companies polled gave either "very satisfactory (42%)" or "somewhat satisfactory (55%)" ratings to Hong Kong's business environment, compared to 31% and 67% respectively in the previous year.
• More than two out of three respondents (72%) also forecast that the business environment will continue to be "good" for their companies next year, while three quarters of them (75%) forecast Hong Kong's economic outlook to be "good", both figures significantly increase up 8 percent points and 11 percent points respectively compared to the previous year.
• More respondents are planning to expand their business (59% versus 50% in 2006) and over half (52%) said they would hire more staff in the next three years.
• Only 4% have plans to gradually downsize and 4% may reduce staffing levels.

The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) was viewed with less enthusiasm. A considerable number of respondents (45%) do not find it helpful to their business because either CEPA's terms of reference do not apply to their industries (58%) or their businesses are not relevant (44%) in the CEPA arrangements.
Even those that benefit from CEPA mostly said that the effects were 'moderate' (71%). Only a small fraction regarded the advantages as being 'large' (9%). The type of CEPA benefits that respondents cite when doing business in Mainland China include an improved level of market access (75%), the ability to set up wholly owned foreign enterprises (44%) and reduced business entry cost into the Mainland market (25%).
The forecast for Mainland China's business environment remains positive, with 98% of respondents rating 2008 as "good" (63%) or "satisfactory" (35%).
More member companies are satisfied with mainland China's business environment this year than last, with a moderate 13% increase (from 57% in 2006 to 70% in 2007) of them who gave 'very / somewhat satisfactory' ratings.
An overwhelming majority (90%) of respondents whose companies have existing operations in the Mainland said they plan to make additional investments over the next three years. Almost half (48%) among those with no operations in China said they plan to break into the Chinese market within the next three years.
Commenting on this year's survey results, AmCham Vice Chairman Steven J. DeKrey said, "We are glad to see that member companies continue to feel confident about Hong Kong's business future, and Hong Kong's areas of strength including geographic location, communications network, infrastructure, free flow of capital and transportation links remains competitive."
Commissioned by AmCham Hong Kong for the 18th consecutive year, the survey was conducted online by Nielsen during the period from October 18 to November 9 2007. Questionnaires were emailed out to 814 company representatives and individual members. A total of 162 completed questionnaires were collected on or before November 9, with the response rate being 20%. The margin of error is +/- 3.9%.
Among the respondents, 50% of the companies are based in the United States, 27% in Hong Kong and 9% in the United Kingdom.
For inquiries, please contact Toni Lau, Press Affairs Manager, AmCham, on 2530-6915, or by email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

The full survey report is available for download at:
Chinese: http://www.amcham.org.hk/hongkong/business_outlook_survey2007/2007_report_chinese_FINAL.pdf English: http://www.amcham.org.hk/hongkong/business_outlook_survey2007/2007_Report_FINAL.pdf

Photos of AmCham Vice Chairman Steven J. DeKrey and President Maisano taken at this afternoon's press conference are available at:
1. http://www.amcham.org.hk/press_center/DSC_0004A.JPG
2. http://www.amcham.org.hk/press_center/DSC_0016A.JPG
(The one wearing a red tie is Steven J. DeKrey)