Chinese investors rank US-China relations and domestic demand as their top two concerns for the next 12 months, while highlighting a weak property market and declining birth rates as key risks, according to quarterly survey results.
While the outlook has instilled a continued sense of caution following a year of volatility and policy-driven rebounds, the overall investor sentiment remains resilient, the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) in Beijing said on Wednesday about its findings.
The survey sampled about 2,100 investors across five major hubs, including Beijing and Shenzhen, in the fourth quarter of 2025. The primary concern, cited by 57.1 per cent of respondents, was the trajectory of US-China relations, closely followed by a majority expressing worries about weak domestic demand.
With the tit-for-tat tariff war between the world’s two largest economies paused in late 2025, “investors have become less worried than before”, said Liu Jing, a professor of accounting and finance at CKGSB, and lead author on the survey findings.
Compared with its stance during the first round of the trade war in 2018, the US approach towards China has softened, Liu said, noting that Washington has learned that aggressive measures against China did not yield the anticipated results.
Liu warned that elevated global uncertainty – ranging from shifting US trade policies to financial risks emerging in Japan – could further test investor confidence in 2026, reinforcing the importance of boosting domestic demand and strengthening China’s long-term growth foundations.
As relations with the world’s largest consumer market have remained clouded in uncertainty, 56.8 per cent of Chinese investors expressed worries about weak domestic demand, according to the survey findings.