Foreign firms ‘shifting investment out of China as confidence wanes’

Jens Eskelund, president of the European Chamber, speaks at the launch of the European Business in China: Business Confidence Survey in Beijing (AP)

Foreign companies are shifting investments and their Asian headquarters out of China as confidence plunges following the expansion of an anti-spying law and other challenges, a business group has said.

The report by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China is one of many signs of growing pessimism despite the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to revive interest in the world’s second-largest economy following the end of anti-virus controls.