China Urgently Needs To Address Economic Uncertainty - EU Business Group Chief Stated  

• The head of an influential European business lobby in China said Beijing needs to send a clear message on how it plans to revive its economy and provide clarity on a national security crackdown that is unnerving the foreign business community.
• The world's second-largest economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter, prompting top leaders to promise further policy support and analysts to downgrade their growth forecasts for the year. "There is this doubt about where China is going, so I think it is a matter of urgency to go out and address these uncertainties," Jens Eskelund, President of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, told Reuters.
• "The next few months, we believe, would be quite important in terms of rebuilding confidence in the future trajectory of China," he added during an interview at the group's Beijing headquarters on Monday.
• The sluggish growth also has coincided with increasing state intervention in the private sector in recent years, with crackdowns on the tech, education, health and due diligence sectors and increased scrutiny of foreign business links. At the same time, leaders have vowed more support for embattled private entrepreneurs and called for more overseas investment, but confidence remains low.
• Eskelund, who is also Chief Representative for Danish shipping giant Maersk in Greater China and Northeast Asia, added that while he believes a recession is unlikely, Beijing should prioritise boosting consumption, as well as providing more clarity on ambiguous legislation such as a sweeping anti-espionage law that has dented foreign business confidence. "Our recommendation to the government is really to try to establish the highest possible level of clarity on these issues that would give us firm guardrails that we know to stay within," he said.

(Source: Reuters)