Internationally operating German companies were more positive about the future in spring 2023 than in autumn of last year, albeit with very subdued optimism. This is one of the key findings of the latest AHK World Business Outlook. The survey was conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) between 20 March and 6 April 2023 among 5,100 member companies of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK).
37% of the responding companies came from the industry and construction sector, 36% from the service sector and 19% from the trading sector, while 8% came from other sectors. In terms of company size by the number of staff, smaller businesses with less than 100 employees accounted for 48% of the total responses. 17% of the responding companies employed between 100 and 1,000 people. Large companies with more than 1,000 employees accounted for 18% of the responses worldwide.
In China, 40% of German companies expected a strong upswing in the next twelve months, while 19% expected a weaker economic development. Meanwhile, 29% of the responding companies assessed their current business situation in China as good, while 22% assessed their situation as poor. On balance, this was a more pessimistic picture than in the autumn 2022 survey (32% good, 18% poor). Economic uncertainty following the end of the zero-Covid policy still continues to have a negative impact on the business sentiment among German companies in China.
“Uncertainties surrounding future trade relations with China are also weighing on our local companies”, said Dr. Volker Treier, Chief Executive of Foreign Trade and Member of the Executive Board at DIHK, adding: “The discussion about de-coupling […] casts a shadow over the China business of companies active there.”
In Hong Kong, the majority of responding companies maintained positive business expectations (+26) and economic expectations (+15) on balance, while investment (-17) and employment (-21) sentiments were more negative.
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