By Casey Hall
SHANGHAI, Sept 10 (Reuters) – U.S. companies in China have grown more optimistic about their business prospects after confidence hit a record low last year amid political tensions, intense domestic competition and slowing economic growth, a survey showed on Thursday.
The annual survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai) found that 58% of respondents were optimistic about their five-year outlook, up 17 percentage points from a year earlier and ending a four-year stretch of historically low confidence.
The findings suggest U.S. businesses are gaining confidence as Washington and Beijing seek to stabilise relations following a trade truce late last year that paused a fresh escalation in tariffs and other restrictions. Companies are also looking for further signs of improving ties ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to Washington later this month.
“There has been a mood shift among our members,” said Jeffrey Lehman, chairman of AmCham Shanghai.
He noted that last year’s survey was conducted at the height of a renewed trade war, while this year’s followed a successful May summit between Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing.
“After the leadership of the two countries agreed that they were going to be working on a constructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of fairness and reciprocity, that was very reassuring to all of our members, and I think that really drives so many of the positive results,” he added.
A return of optimism among the 262 companies surveyed for the chamber’s annual China Business Report was likely helped by stronger financial performance. Some 78% of respondents said their China operations were profitable last year, the highest level since 2019.
Domestic competition overtook U.S.-China tensions as the biggest concern, with 68% of respondents citing it as the top challenge facing their business.
The survey also showed a 7-percentage-point increase in the share of companies that viewed China’s regulatory environment as transparent, to 55%. However, the proportion expecting the regulatory environment to become more open fell 2 percentage points to 39%.
In 2025, 28% of respondents increased investment in China, the highest share in four years. Looking ahead, 31% said they planned to increase investment in 2026, while only 14% expected to reduce it.
(Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai. Editing by Mark Potter)
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