Business leaders in the Asia-Pacific are losing confidence in their revenue prospects because of China’s cooling economy and perceived higher risks in emerging markets, a survey released Monday showed. Just 28 per cent of businessmen with investments in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation economies said they were ‘very confident’ revenues would increase in the next 12 months, PricewaterhouseCoopers said as it released the survey. That was down from 46 per cent last year and the lowest business confidence score since 2012, when the survey was first carried out ahead of the annual APEC summit. This year’s study polled 800 chief executive officers, PwC said. ‘Slowing demand from China, the catalyst for intra-regional trade, is moderating expectations across industries and geographies. More broadly, growth risks continue to tilt towards emerging markets,’ the report said. ‘After a year of historic foreign direct investments into developing Asian economies, CEOs have become hypersensitive to financial market signals.’ China’s gross domestic product grew 7.3 per cent last year, the slowest expansion since 1990. In the July to September period this year, growth was 6.9 per cent, the slowest in six years, according to government data. Chinese president Xi Jinping said this month 6.5 per cent growth this year would be enough to meet the country’s 2016 to 2020 growth goals.
