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The most comprehensive survey of Danish Companies in China ever conducted was published by The Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing, Danish Chamber of Commerce in China and Sino Danish Center for Education and Research.
In November 2018, the Foreign Ministry formed the "Expert Panel for Global Growth Centers - China". The Board of DCBF was well represented in this panel, the endeavours of which resulted in nine specific recommendations.
Based on the recommendations, the Ambassador to China, A. Carsten Damsgaard, established the "Ambassador's China Business Advisory Group" (ACBAG) consisting of several representatives of the Danish business community in China including the Chairman of DCBF Tom Behrens-Sørensen and Board Member Kjeld Stærk. ACBAG initiated surveys to create an overview of sector-specific regulatory challenges facing Danish companies in China, obtaining a 90% response rate.
The report based on these surveys reveals that China is so much more than Denmark's sixth largest export market!
In DCBF’s opinion, the evaluation by Danish companies active in China responding to these surveys does not reflect the present Danish public opinion – we need to discuss this discrepancy going forward!
Extract of some of the findings: Three quarters of the companies plan to increase capacity considerably – more than 10% - in the coming five years. Most also expect to expand both personnel numbers (primarily Chinese staff with the number of expatriate staff number staying unchanged) and to make asset investments within a five year timeframe. The primary reason for being in China is the Chinese market! And supporting this - half the companies report engaging in R&D activities. 42% of Danish companies in China state that China is in the top three markets, while slightly less than one in five (18%) have China as their largest market for their global operation. For the vast majority (66%), the Chinese market has become more important relative to other markets within the last five years (measured in t/o)
With regard to challenges: Compliance and business ethics are commonly found to pose regulatory challenges and IPR as well as the ambiguity in human resources are found to be unclear, complex or lacking transparency. Major current events such as the impact of the trade conflict between China and the US is not significant and the Corporate Social Credit System is only considered a concern by a slight majority.
