Skepticism over WTO Implementations(2)

Looking ahead, the survey shows that EU companies are expecting the labor cost in China to increase by 5 to 10 percent in the next few years. They are however more concerned over the challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified staff than having cheap labors.

For management personnel, 86% of the respondents think it is more difficult to recruit qualified staff than in Europe; and once recruited, 71% companies say it is more difficult to retain them as compared to in Europe. As a result, the localization of the top management team in China is not taking place as fast as desired.

The survey outcome, jointly developed by the Chamber and Ronald Berger Consultant, will be presented to related Chinese government bureaus and regulatory agencies as well as European businesses, the European Commission, and European Union member governments.