Results of the Quarterly Business Sentiment Survey (Q4) of CICC Members

Dear Members and Friends,

From July 2020, the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) started a quick quarterly survey to gather information on the business sentiment of all our Members in China.

The goal is to obtain direct and up-to-date knowledge of how business is doing in our industries every quarter. At the beginning of each quarter we learn how the previous one performed and what’s the forecast for the following one.

The results of Q4 business sentiment survey (fourth quarter) are available online!

Download the executive summary here.

The survey refers to the period of October-November-December 2020 (Q4) and the sample is composed by 200 (out of 580) CICC members (34,5%).

The companies which joined the survey are located nationwide with a significant 62.5% of respondents located in East China, followed by 15.5% located in South China and by 10.5% in the North, while 7.5% of the companies located in South-West part.

The respondents well represent the composition of CICC Members’ business sectors. In fact, a significant number of participants is active in the Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing (61%) and intangible services (22%), followed by Food and Beverage (8%), Retail-B2C (6%) and Healthcare (3%).

Data show:

• The 29.5% had the same revenue in China compared to 2019, the 42% even had a revenue increase compared to 2019 indicating a steady recovery from the previous period.
• Almost the 90% of companies are in NORMAL or HIGHER range of orders intake in Q4.
• A strong improvement of orders intake for all in Q4. In particular: Q4 vs. Q3 saw a further increase of orders intake after the first recovery in Q3. Also, substantial improvement of LOWER orders intake from -26.8% to -17.3% (+9.5%).
• Upward trend for EXPORTS sharply recovering from the previous quarter
• Compared to Q3 forecast there is a consistent improvement for new orders intake in Q4 forecast for next quarter.
• STABLE and HIGHER order intake forecast an average increase of around 2.5% for all categories. LOWER dropped to 12.6% for China.
• Exporters expect to see also a further improvement in the first 3 months of 2021.

6-12 Months Business Trends Forecast:

• The 46% forecasts an IMPROVING performance for the selected period.
• Only 3.6 % still forecast a WORSE performance for the future months in China.
• Greater optimism towards Export expected to improve by the 23.5% on average. However, around the 25% still foresees a WORSE trend. 

The CICC thanks all 200 companies for taking part in the Survey, helping to create added value and providing the tools to improve concrete support for the Italian business community in China. The next quarterly business sentiment survey will be held on April 2021.

To read the Press Release of CICC click here.

Kind Regards,

The CICC Team