China's strict Zero-Covid policy approach has changed the framework conditions for foreign companies in China dramatically. While the Chinese government is pointing to opening up the country further by easing the Zero-Covid hardships, local European and German companies are reporting growing challenges and problems.

Strict Zero-Covid-Politics, lockdowns, geopolitical tensions, decoupling and the consolidation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s singular political power - after a more than turbulent and eventful last year the convergence of all the disruptions and challenges added pressure and raising a debate on the resilience of the Chinese economy. Now the important question arises for many, especially for companies: What will happen next in the “Year of the Rabbit” 2023.

Entering the Year of the Dragon, a symbol deeply woven into the fabric of the culture, China encounters the supreme emblem of power, nobility, honor, luck, and success. 2023 presented the Chinese economy with a formidable array of challenges, navigating through turbulent waters encompassing real estate uncertainties, demographic shifts, and the complex dynamics of debt and geopolitics. As China strides into 2024, the crucial question arises: How will this new year shape the nation's economic landscape? Amidst the relentless headwinds and burgeoning challenges, how will the nation confront and adapt in The Year of the Dragon?

China has long been known as the “world’s factory,” a manufacturing powerhouse, and a key market for global companies. However, its emerging role as a global R&D hub is less frequently discussed. In recent years, China has been positioning itself as a leading innovation center, attracting substantial R&D investments from multinational corporations.

Wenn es um digitale Zahlungen geht, ist China sowohl beim Online-Shopping als auch beim Bezahlen in stationären Geschäften weltweit führend. Im Jahr 2022 nutzten rund 911 Millionen Menschen in China die Möglichkeit des mobilen Bezahlens. Wesentliche Treiber dieser Entwicklung sind die beiden Internetgiganten Alibaba und Tencent, die mit ihren Plattformen Alipay und WeChat Pay die beiden wichtigsten Anbieter mobiler Zahlungen im Reich der Mitte sind.

The artificial intelligence (AI) bot "ChatGPT", developed by Californian company OpenAI and backed up by Microsoft, seems to be taking the world by storm, where an estimated over 100 million people have used the app in the first two months of its release, making it the fastest-growing consumer app in history. The global furor around the ChatGPT application that provides coherent, essay-like, responses to virtually any query has also spread to China's tech and business communities fueling massive competition, with big Chinese tech companies announcing plans to introduce their own ChatGPT-like products and services.

According to the Chinese calendar, 2022 is the “Year of the Tiger” and China is potentially facing an even more turbulent year than the previous one. As China continues to be an attractive and reliable investment destination (AHK Survey), the country faces multiple external headwinds like rising geopolitical tensions and the ongoing pandemic. On the domestic side, China aims to internalize global value chains and finance by leveraging its large domestic market, all signaling that for foreign companies realism replaced strong positivity.

Auch wenn das Geschäftsumfeld derzeit besonders schwierig erscheint: China bleibt ein Zukunftsmarkt. Aufgrund seiner Marktgröße und des absehbaren Beitrags zum globalen Wachstum wird China als Absatzmarkt und Produktionsstandort auch in Zukunft für deutsche Unternehmen attraktiv sein, wie es in der AHK Business Confidence Survey 2021 dargelegt wird..

2020 was a turbulent year for China and global economies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The question now: What's in store for China in 2021 and what does this mean for global economics and international relations? Here are 4 topics to watch closely in the „Year of the Ox".

Chinas E-Commerce-Sektor ist ein globales Phänomen. Nach einem eher schleppenden Start gewann die Branche Anfang der 2000er Jahre rasch an Dynamik, und machte China schon vor der Corona-Krise zum digitalen „Weltmarktführer“ in den verbraucherorientierten Bereichen.