China's Economy and Foreign Companies: What Now?

How does China's current economic downturn affect the strategy of foreign companies in China?

A Chinese-American law firm conducted a mini-survey among its clients and shares the results in a blog post:

"China's downturn had made them look more carefully at their China expansion and hiring plans. They said they were going to be very 'cautious' and 'careful' in 2009 with respect to expansion and hiring. Many of them (5 or 6?) said they had an 'official' hiring freeze in place for the first six months of 2009 or the entire year. Two said they were going to expand faster than anticipated in China because they saw now as the best time to get a jump on their less well-funded rivals. All of them said they had no concrete plans to get out of China, but one worried that the company's overall problems might force an ill-advised China exit. Many of them responded to my question about their leaving China by asking me 'and go where?'"

Comments

[Lara]

Dear Mr. Tim Leberecht,

I hope to invite you to contribute articles for our English quarterly. Could you please contact me at lara.luo@yict.com.cn for details?

Look forward to your reply and thanks in advance.

Regards,

Lara