Chinese firms in US facing tough conditions

A bridge role

Pin Ni, CGCC vice-chair and the president of Wanxiang America Corp, said the report reflects CGCC members' common voice: The enterprises all want to continue to invest more in the US and play a bridge role between the US and China; on the other hand, the pressure of the circumstances is relatively high.

"The recession in the US has just arrived, and it is a real challenge. The deterioration of US-China relations has a greater impact on everyone," he said.

"As long as the flow of people, logistics and capital is constant, the business opportunities will come. Such opportunities will bring value and benefit to both China and the US," Ni said.

"We have to do a lot of work in promoting US-China exchanges. Don't let the current difficulties stop our work. Don't give up. We are at the forefront, and if we give up, there will be a vacuum in US-China exchanges. Once such vacuum appears, there will surely be other forces and voices to fill it, which is not good for anyone."

There were several panel discussions after the report launch, whose participants included Chinese and US officials, CGCC leaders, and Chinese and US business executives.

They specified the difficulties encountered by Chinese companies in the US in recent years. Still, they expressed a positive attitude toward the future economic and trade relationship with the US.

Xu Xueyuan, the charge d'affaires at the Chinese embassy in Washington, described the US as an "investment hot spot" and said that the high volume of two-way trade reveals the sober mindset of the business community and the strong market forces.

"It also tells us one thing — winning cooperation has the support from the people. As an important force for Chinese modernization, Chinese businesses are of great significance to closer US-China trade ties and global economic recovery," she said.

Diane Farrell, deputy under secretary for international trade at the US Department of Commerce, said that the bilateral economic ties and investments have deepened business relationships between the US and China, offering opportunities to both their countries.

"Chinese companies, by our count, have invested over $53 billion in US facilities, supporting over 119,000 direct jobs in the United States."

Ben Jurjevich, the business development manager of BYD, a major Chinese conglomerate, said: "We still see a very strong future in the US. So, you know, we still have a very strong market share for transit buses. We have some new products we're very excited about in the US, including our electric school bus. And so, business is good."

The professional "helpers" providing services to Chinese companies entering and operating in the US are also confident.

"As part of the US-China business community, it's our job to try and weave together the different strands of the different communities to try and sort of bridge them together," said Lanier Saperstein, the banking partner and co-chair of the US-China Practice Group at Dorsey &Whitney LLP.