China’s Slowing Economic Growth Tops US Companies’ Concern, Survey Shows

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Jan 17, 2026 - 10:57 Updated: Jan 17, 2026 - 03:18
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China’s Slowing Economic Growth Tops US Companies’ Concern, Survey Shows

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China’s struggling economy has emerged as a top concern for U.S. businesses operating in the country, according to the latest annual survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham).

Around 64 percent of 368 companies that participated in the survey said a slowdown in China’s economic growth could become the biggest challenge for their operations in 2026, according to the results of the poll published on Jan. 16. This marks a shift from the previous five years, when U.S.–China tensions were the primary concern for American businesses.

AmCham attributes such a shift, at least in part, to last year’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, stating that “positive high-level interactions notably stabilized the responding companies’ expectations for bilateral relations.”

Relations between Beijing and Washington appear largely stable, following a tentative trade truce reached after the leaders’ summit last October. Trump has said he plans to visit China in April, while Xi is expected to make the trip to the United States later this year.
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Still, tensions between the world’s two largest economies persist. The latest issue is Beijing’s close trade ties with Tehran, which have put China at the top of the list of countries facing an additional 25 percent U.S. tariff, following Trump’s announcement earlier this month.

According to the AmCham survey, 58 percent of respondents cited “strained bilateral relations” as their top business concern, a slight 1 percentage point decrease from the previous year.

Expectations for U.S.–China relations over the next two years remain largely negative, though the intensity of this pessimism has eased. Fifty-two percent of surveyed companies said they are “pessimistic” or “slightly pessimistic” about bilateral ties, down from last year’s 65 percent.

Uncertainty surrounding U.S.–China economic and trade relations continues to be the leading factor driving companies to reconsider their investment plans in China in 2026, AmCham said. The second most cited reason was an expected slowdown in China’s economic growth, which worries the service sector the most.

Overall, most chamber members have yet to consider relocating production or procurement outside of China, accounting for 71 percent of respondents, AmCham said.

The survey came at a time when China is grappling with a tangle of problems that have weighed down its growth. A prolonged slump in the property sector, which now enters its sixth year, has eroded household wealth and weighed heavily on consumption.
On top of that, young Chinese professionals face job insecurity and irregular income amid a high youth unemployment rate and low foreign direct investment, which further pushes families to save rather than spend.

Official figures indicated that China has yet to reverse a downturn in foreign investment. In the first 11 months of 2025, the actual foreign direct investment stood at 693.2 billion yuan ($98.2 billion), down by 7.5 percent from the same period earlier, according to the latest available data from the commerce ministry.

Beijing is set to release the final quarter’s and the full year’s gross domestic product (GDP) next week. Global banks expected China’s economy to meet its 2025 growth target of around 5 percent, largely driven by strong exports. However, the veracity of Beijing’s official figures remains questionable due to the regime’s record of underreporting and concealing data.
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