CEO Confidence for China Drops to Pandemic Level Low

In H1 2025, CEO confidence for China has plunged to a reading of 37—the second lowest since the survey’s launch and near the pandemic low of 34. This report examines the latest CEO survey findings, highlighting shifting business confidence, emerging risks, geopolitical impacts, and evolving strategies in China amidst global uncertainty.

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead^®

• CEO confidence plunges to pandemic level low. In H1 2025, CEO confidence dropped sharply to a reading of 37 (below 50 indicates pessimism). This is the second lowest reading since the launch of the survey. At the depth of the pandemic and associated lock-downs in the April-May period of 2022, the reading was 34. In between then and now, the reading has been from the high 40s and up. Notably, China’s readout, despite being near a recorded low for the survey, is higher than the readouts from both the US and Europe.
• Current business conditions deteriorate despite modest demand recovery. Despite that most CEOs report a modest improvement in demand, half report worse current business conditions now than six months ago. Only 23% report that demand today, in their respective sectors, is above the pre-pandemic level of 2019.
• Pessimism on the economic and industrial outlook deepens. Over 60% of the CEOs surveyed expect overall economic and industry conditions to deteriorate further in the next six months.