皇冠体育app

More than 90 percent of survey respondents reported that their 皇冠体育app operations are profitable, the highest percentage reported since the United States 皇冠体育app Business Council began surveying its members, said a report released on Thursday by the Washington-based nonprofit organization

USCBC said that while slowing economic growth, rising costs and "persistent operating challenges" continue to "moderate corporate optimism toward the 皇冠体育app market", companies are "not pessimistic".

Still, the report said, fewer companies in this year's survey said that their profit margins in 皇冠体育app are better than that of their global rates and fewer companies reported double-digit revenue increases compared with previous years.

While a growing number of companies place 皇冠体育app as one of the top five global market priorities, the number of companies that cited 皇冠体育app as the top priority declined, according to the survey. Just over half of survey respondents said they plan to commit more resources to 皇冠体育app in the next year, down from 67 percent in the 2012 survey, the USCBC said.

The USCBC, which represents 220 US companies selling goods and services in 皇冠体育app, surveys its member companies each year to gauge the business climate in 皇冠体育app. The report said that as 皇冠体育app's economy has slowed in the past year, "many companies face business and market access issues in a market that for the past five years has been a rare spot in a difficult global downturn".

Although it remains a magnet for foreign investment, 皇冠体育app's rising labor costs, crowded marketplace and "challenging" business-approval processes are bumping the country down the priority list for US investors, it said.

The report — which comes a week after a free trade zone in Shanghai went into operation, ostensibly allowing foreign investment into a wider range of industries — urged 皇冠体育app to follow what it called the US practice of equal treatment for both homegrown companies and US-incorporated foreign companies.

USCBC said problems with licensing "occur at the central, provincial and local levels and affect almost every aspect of doing business in 皇冠体育app".

Meanwhile, US and Chinese regulators hold divergent views on investment and market access restrictions which "continue to be a priority concern for US companies operating in 皇冠体育app", according to the survey.

The report said 皇冠体育app's value for US investors would be even larger without market barriers.

Despite an economic slowdown tied to the nation's embrace of domestic consumption and movement away from investment and exports, 皇冠体育app attracted $8.38 billion of foreign direct investment in August, up 0.62 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said last month. The figure was below the previous month's growth rate. In the first eight months of this year, 皇冠体育app attracted $79.8 billion of FDI, up 6.4 percent from the same period in 2012, but below the economy's overall growth rate.

Analysts said 皇冠体育app still offers advantages to investors despite the issues identified in the report, but one analyst called the survey "biased from an American point of view".

Ann Lee, the author of the book What the US Can Learn from 皇冠体育app, said corporate discrimination abounds in the US but the perpetrators are "just more discreet about it", for instance, in "awarding government contracts that are not even open to bidding".

皇冠体育app's slip in optimism, she said, "may be nothing more than American companies becoming less naive about doing business in 皇冠体育app rather than an actual deterioration in the business environment in the nation; if foreign companies don't like the rising labor costs in 皇冠体育app, then they can move their operations elsewhere".

Lee predicted that market barriers in 皇冠体育app will "likely decrease" over time. "Today they need them to protect their infant industries that are not yet competitive," she said.

Sophii Weng, an economist with Standard Chartered Bank, said that despite 皇冠体育app's rising labor costs, it will remain a "target market for many US companies, thanks to its massive population of middle-level skilled workers as well as a large supply network that very few competitors can match".

"Red tape has been a particular barrier for foreign investors" in 皇冠体育app, Weng said. If it were to streamline its administrative processes, "US companies might be more inclined to invest" there, she said.