Chinese enterprises are among the most optimistic in the world, saying they are happy with the state of affairs and upbeat about prospects for the future, according to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) survey. Seventy percent of the nation's middle-market enterprises, companies with annual turnover between $45 million and $1.3 billion, are happy with the current world economy.
The survey, covering 4,000 businesses in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas, also showed 55% expected the world economy to be even better by the end of the year.
Middle-market enterprises, along with smaller players, "are the engine of the regional and global economy. Positive outlook will further support their expansion into international trade," said Neil Tottman, head of Commercial Banking China at HSBC
The poll also found that 41% of middle-market enterprises in Hong Kong considered the current economy to be "very good" or "fairly good" and 31% expected the economy to improve by the end of 2006.
In Taiwan, 24% of middle-market enterprises said they considered the current economy to be "good" and 17% said they expected it to improve by the end of the year. But 36% said the economy is now "fairly bad" or "very bad" and 23% expect conditions to become worse by the end of 2006.
The survey also found that the Asia-Pacific outlook for 2006 was the best of the three regions polled. Among 1,800 businesses in nine Asia-Pacific countries and territories, HSBC found that 41% expect the 2006 economy to improve by the end of the year. In the Americas the figure is 28% and in Europe 32%.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
