China CEOs See Strong Business Growth

SHANGHAI, China – January 29, 2014 – Business leaders in China may have bought into this year’s lowered GDP growth expectations.  However, but it seems fewer of them expect their own operations to slow down.

A majority of attendees at a Cornerstone China CEO Committee meeting last week predicted double digit revenues in 2014, with 47% of them calling for growth in excess of 20%.

This is in contrast to expectations of national GDP growth in the single digits. International Monetary Fund forecasts currently are for 7-8% growth in China’s GDP, a continuing decline from the 14% of seven years ago.   The CEOs surveyed also put GDP in the 7.0-7.9% range, with 45% expecting a further softening below 7%

“It’s an interesting contrast between specific market expectations and national growth, particularly because it comes from a very diverse group,” says Simon Wan, Chairman of the host Cornerstone International Group. “We had both foreign and Chinese owned businesses equally represented as well as an even gender balance.”

The CEO Committee meetings organized by Cornerstone China bring together CEOs from non-competing businesses to share business insights and knowledge.   The innovative format has proved highly popular in China and is being rolled out across Cornerstone International Group’s global network.