Chongqing- The American Business in China 2021 White Paper Release Event for its Chongqing Chapter was held by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham China) in Southwest China on Wednesday evening.

What is the White Paper about?

Written by AmCham China, the White Paper serves as one of the most comprehensive and in-depth business climate analyses, highlighting major industrial, cross-industry and regional issues of greatest concern to AmCham Southwest members.

At the release event, Chongqing-based enterprise contributors spoke on behalf of the manufacturing, hospitality, education, professional services, finance, and legal industries, sharing their insights into the greatest business challenges of 2021, key features of the Southwest Chinese economy, and their interpretations of recent trends in business and business policy.

Guests from all walks of life were in attendance, including representatives from the top companies operating in Southwest China, CEOs from Fortune 500 companies, business media, officers from the US Embassy in Beijing, and other foreign consulates in Chongqing, as well as the  Chinese government officials.

Professional observation on Southwest China

According to James Wemyss, Director of Strategy and Business Development of Chongqing Stone Tan Credit Guarantee Co., Ltd, companies like Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi have plans to get into the automotive industry, and this is the opportunity he thinks Chongqing has.

"Chongqing can really succeed in the automotive area, where they can attract and merge the cell phone manufacturers in the automotive manufacturers together," said Wemyss. "Being in a low-cost area with the cheaper employment than the East Coast, as well as energy prices, I think there are a lot of opportunities for Chongqing in that way."

Wemyss also thinks there is a lot of excitement about being in southwest China. "Plenty of companies find that Chongqing is a better place to operate," said Wemyss. "Other things include having the China Railway Express to Europe, where people are interested in shipping goods out to Europe. So I think there are positive developments why people would want to invest more in Chongqing."

Furthermore, as seen from this year's White Paper, American business operators in China maintain a steadfast, pragmatic, and mostly optimistic attitude.

According to the 2021 Business Climate Survey conducted by AmCham China, more than two-thirds of member respondents regard China as a priority market, 85 percent have no plans to relocate manufacturing or procurement outside of China, and nearly two-thirds of members plan to increase investment in China in 2021.

This indicates high confidence in the Chinese market and an endorsement of deepening China-US trade and economic cooperation from American-owned enterprises speaking with a unified voice.

(Du Min, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)