Chinese business owners under great pressure

Grant Thornton released its survey on international businesses recently, saying that 84% of Chinese business owners are faced with greater pressures this year than last, while the average global proportion is only 56%. The situation is similar in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where 82% and 67% of businesspeople respectively are under heavy pressure. The soaring raw material price and salary level, as well as tougher challenges from keeping the competitiveness of their businesses are the three major sources of their pressures.

Averagely, business owners in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland work 54 hours every week, while Taiwan business owners work 53 hours. In fact, business owners in booming markets like China and India are willing to extend their working hours to grasp every opportunity available in the global market.

The survey covers 7,200 business owners from 32 countries and regions, including 300 from the Chinese mainland, 250 from Hong Kong and 150 from Taiwan.

Business owners from more than 60% of the responding countries and regions admit that they are faced with heavier pressures this yea than last.

According to the "Report on the Development of Private Businesses in China" by All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, there are 150 thousand new private enterprises set up in China every year, while about 100 thousand go bankrupt at the same time. Nearly 85% of them won't last for 10 years, and their average life expectancy is only 2.9 years.