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Political tensions, fierce domestic competition and China's slowing economic growth are sapping the confidence of U.S. businesses in the country, with optimism about their five-year outlook falling to a record low, a survey showed.Only 41% of U.S. firms were optimistic about their five-year China business outlook, a drop of six percentage points from last year, according to the survey published on Wednesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. This was the weakest level of optimism reported since the AmCham Shanghai Annual China Business Report was introduced in 1999.

The survey of 254 member companies representing a range of industries was conducted just after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his sweeping so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs, which led to a tit-for-tat tariff escalation with China. A pause in trade hostilities has since temporarily lowered tariff levels.Geopolitics remains the biggest issue cited by companies, with 66% of respondents saying U.S.-China tensions are the top challenge facing their business over the next three-to-five years.

"We love this 90-day pause, but the issue is not going away, it's still here," said Eric Zheng, president of AmCham Shanghai, adding that the current uncertainty made it difficult for companies to plan for the future."Hopefully the two governments will work together to sort out their differences and hopefully there will be a deal soon," he said.Domestic competition from rising Chinese players was the second-biggest challenge cited by businesses, overtaking China's economic slowdown.The number of profitable firms picked up from last year's record low, with 71% posting profits. Revenue performance also improved, with 57% of members, up from 50% the year before, achieving year-on-year growth.

This said, only 45% of surveyed members expect revenue to grow in 2025, which would be a record low if it comes to pass. A majority of companies, 64%, expect new U.S.-China tariffs to drag on this year's revenue.On a positive note, there was a significant 13-percentage-point uptick from last year - to 48% - in businesses that reported believing China's regulatory environment is transparent. The number confident that China's regulatory environment would open up further rose to 41% from 22% last year.

Only 12% of respondents ranked China as their firms' top investment destination, another record low in the survey's history.In the past year, 47% of companies have redirected investment that had been earmarked for China, the AmCham report said, with Southeast Asia remaining the top pick for rerouting investment.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Xiamen, China--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2025) - The 25th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), the country's only national exhibition focused exclusively on investment, opened in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province on September 8, 2025.Themed "Join Hands with China, Invest in the Future," the 2025 CIFIT will feature an exhibition area of approximately 120,000 square meters and host over 100 investment-themed activities, thus highlighting the fair's role as a landmark event for "Invest in China" and an international public service platform for two-way investment.

This year's CIFIT attracted delegations from more than 120 countries, regions and 11 international organizations, with 51 countries and regions setting up exhibition booths.The Ministry of Commerce will also organize chambers of commerce to release China's Outbound Investment Activity Index for the first time.Special events and forums will be held to boost bilateral and multilateral trade and investment, including a Thematic Session on Belt and Road Investment Cooperation, a China-U.S. Provincial and State Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Event, and a China-Azerbaijan Bilateral Investment Promotion Event.

The event will also host major forums, including the 2025 International Investment Forum and the 2025 Gulangyu Forum, alongside the release of 21 authoritative reports such as: UN World Investment Report 2025 (Chinese Edition), Report on Foreign Investment in China 2025, China Two-Way Investment Report 2025, and Analysis Report on the Trade Credit Environment of RCEP Countries.To highlight industrial matchmaking, the CIFIT this year has leveraged big data and artificial intelligence technologies to upgrade the "CIFIT Online" platform, establishing an integrated online and offline matchmaking system.

Meanwhile, a dedicated industrial investment promotion zone will be set up, focusing on advancing new quality productive forces. This zone will feature innovative technologies and high-quality projects in emerging fields such as digital technologies, green and low-carbon development, and new energy.Additionally, the fair will host over 100 roadshows and promotion events, integrating exhibition and negotiation to create greater cooperation opportunities for all participants.The United Kingdom is the guest country of honor at this year's CIFIT. Britain's 400-square-meter national pavilion, themed "Invest in GREAT," highlights key sectors such as financial and professional services, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean energy, and creative industries.

Source: TradingView

PMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is cautious about the U.S. economic outlook, believing that the full effects of tariffs and other geopolitical headwinds have yet to fully unfold.

"I think you better be careful on that one (on the economic impact on the U.S.) because some of these things have long cycles. So we don’t know yet. People are expecting these things to happen right away. But actually, a lot of them haven’t happened," Dimon said in a podcast interview on Office Hours: Business Edition set to be released on Wednesday morning.

The impact of tariffs, immigration, geopolitics and President Donald Trump's tax and spending package is still not fully known, Dimon warned. He added that the bank has doubled down on getting involved in policies that it thinks will help the U.S.

The U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter, in part driven by business investment in intellectual property such as artificial intelligence, but concerns about tariff uncertainty remain.

Despite the recent strength, Dimon said in a separate CNBC interview on Tuesday that the economy is weakening and that expected interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve will be immaterial.

The 69-year-old CEO, who is a prominent voice on Wall Street, has maintained a cautious stance on the U.S. economy for several quarters even when his peers have been more optimistic. He has cautioned about the risk of recession, the possibility of credit spreads widening and inflation rising.

Dimon also said that he expects more consolidation to happen in the banking sector and downplayed the possibility of buying a bank overseas.

"We’re not allowed to buy a bank in the United States of America. We could overseas if we wanted to, but I probably wouldn’t," he added.

The bank plans to launch its digital bank in Germany in 2026 after establishing its presence in the U.K.

Dimon has run the biggest U.S. lender for more than 19 years, outlasting many other CEOs. He once again declined to give a time frame for his eventual retirement but said that the successor will most likely be an insider while he takes on the chairman role.

"It’s when they are ready and it’s time for me to go—or some combination of the two," Dimon said. "I have a great relationship with all the people here. The board is likely to make me chairman for a couple of years," he added.

Source: Reuters

The Trump administration on Tuesday criticized Israel's decision to launch a strike on senior Hamas officials in Qatar's capital city of Doha.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard in bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to reporters at the White House.

"Eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal," however, she added.

The Trump administration was informed of the attack by the U.S. military, which learned of it just before it was carried out, Leavitt said.

She declined to say if the U.S. military, which maintains a major base in Qatar, had been alerted in advance by Israel of if it had learned of the impending strike through other means.

President Donald Trump "immediately" ordered Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, to tell Qatar of the forthcoming attack, "which he did," the press secretary said.

"The President views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States and feels very badly about the location of this attack," and he assured Qatar's leaders that "such a thing will not again on their soil," she said.

Trump also spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said "he wants to make peace and quickly" with Hamas.

But the strike on the capital of a foreign sovereign nation is a significant escalation of Tel Aviv's efforts to destroy the group that orchestrated the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre of Israelis.

On Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces announced the "precise strike" in a social media post, accusing the targeted leaders of being "directly responsible" for Oct. 7.

The IDF's post did not identify the location of the strike. But a senior Israeli official confirmed to NBC News that it occurred in Doha.

The Trump administration was notified by Israel just before the attack, a White House official told CNBC.

Majed al Ansari, the spokesman for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned "the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential headquarters housing several members of the political bureau of the movement in the Qatari capital, Doha."

"This criminal assault constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms, and a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar," the spokesman said in a translated X post.

A leading Hamas source told Al Jazeera, the Qatari media network, that the strike targeted the group's negotiating delegation, NBC reported.

The delegation was attacked during a meeting to discuss President Donald Trump's proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to NBC.

The U.S. embassy in Doha issued a shelter-in-place order at its facilities in response to reports of the strike, but lifted all restrictions later Tuesday.

Source: CNBC

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