Happy New Year. As China re-opens its borders for quarantine-free travels, we see both opportunities and challenges for Western businesses in 2023.  The country itself is in a wide healthcare crisis sending many families into anxiety and employee productivity is probably at its lowest level. “No pain no gains” as argued by some experts, and the general consensus seems to be that China will emerge from this crisis in Q2, although economic growth and consumer confidence may take much longer to restore to their pre-Covid levels. In the meantime, we expect to see some business-friendly policies from the Chinese government coming up in the next few weeks and months.

Anticipating this positive latest development, we have already been in discussion with clients across sectors in the UK and Europe on how they could best re-focus on the China opportunity, including urgently reviewing their China strategy and resourcing their business development plans locally in the market, to keep ahead of the curve and competition. If this is still yet to be added to your board agenda, now is the time to get restarted today.

HOT TOPIC

China after covid: How will the world economy react?

China’s re-opening of its borders is set to be one of the biggest economic events of 2023. It will have global implications for consumers, companies and policymakers, according to the latest video analysis from The Economist, which covers:

• The impact of zero covid on China’s economy
• Change to tourism
• How commodity prices will change
• The impact on foreign investment in China

Tensions between Beijing and Big Tech are easing, analysts say

In a high-profile move for Jack Ma to relinquish control of China’s largest fin-tech business, leading analysts and experts comment this week that China’s internet sector is “positively positioned” for 2023 as three major hurdles – macroeconomic headwinds, domestic regulatory pressure and US scrutiny of Chinese tech stocks – are all expected to ease. This is seen as a signal of the government’s policy shift to providing more support to the Chinese private sector.

GET STARTED with China TODAY

If you are looking to get help for doing business in China, this practical diagnostic tool on our online platform is perfect for you. All you need to do is to answer three simple questions on our platform Crayfish.io, and you will receive a suite of recommended Crayfish solutions and resources available.