Coronavirus: US firms in China struggling with plunging demand, travel disruptions as pandemic fallout continues

Nearly a quarter of US companies in China expect operational delays through to the middle of the year, survey from American Chamber of Commerce in China shows

Results contrast with official statistics that have purported to show substantial recovery among foreign businesses from the coronavirus pandemic

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A man wearing a face mask walks past a deliveryman as he waits outside a Starbucks store in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:30pm, 25 Mar 2020Updated: 12:04am, 26 Mar 2020

Nearly two thirds of US companies operating in China are struggling with travel disruptions and many have recorded a sharp deterioration in demand, a new survey showed on Wednesday, as the economic damage from coronavirus pandemic casts an increasingly gloomy spell over the global economy.

Some 68 per cent of 119 mostly multinational companies surveyed in March said they were still facing domestic travel disruptions, while half were experiencing significant revenue declines, a rate nearly double the 28 per cent figure in February, according to the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in China survey.

Thirty nine per cent of firms said demand for their products was down, a sharp increase from 22 per cent last month, and a quarter of respondents expected business operations to return to normal by the end of April.

But 22 per cent expected further operational delays through the summer, up from 12 per cent in February’s survey.

The results contrast with official statistics that have purported to show substantial recovery among foreign businesses in March.