KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China remains a highly attractive consumer market and global supply chain hub, especially for Malaysian companies, a survey by HSBC showed Thursday.
HSBC said in a statement that its "Navigator: Growing with China" report showed that international businesses are looking to increasing the proportion of their China-based supply chains, in addition to strengthening their digital propositions to tap into the Chinese consumer market.
The survey covered 1,100 companies across 11 key markets across the world including Malaysia.
China's pivotal role in global supply chains has proven durable, with the survey showing that, contrary to some commentary, many companies are in fact increasing their exposure to the country.
Some 75 percent of companies, including 70 percent of U.S. companies, said they expect to increase their supply-chain footprint in China over the next two years, according to the survey.
The most bullish are companies from Malaysia, recording the highest percentage of 93 percent expecting to increase the proportion of their supply chains based in the Chinese mainland in the next two years. Among the biggest reasons are increasing speed to market and China's growing consumer demand.
China's economic recovery from the COVID-19 is also fuelling optimism among companies across the world: 75 percent of those surveyed expect sales in or exports to China to grow in the next two years, with businesses from Malaysia (88 percent), Mexico (86 percent), and Singapore (84 percent) feeling the most bullish, said the survey.
HSBC Malaysia's chief executive officer Stuart Milne said it is very encouraging to see that businesses from Malaysia are more optimistic than companies from other surveyed countries.
"Malaysia tops the score with 93 percent expecting to increase their supply chains in China while 88 percent are bullish on growing sales in or exports to China over the next two years. This upbeat outlook reflects the strong bilateral trade ties shared by the two countries," he said in the statement.
"We continue to see positive momentum in terms of the Malaysia-China trade and investment. By the end of 2019, China was Malaysia's largest trading partner for the 11th consecutive year. In fact, trade with China continues to see growth this year, recording a 3 percent growth during the period of January to September 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, in spite of the current challenging conditions," he said. Enditem
