China CFOs most optimistic in Asia

Chief financial officers (CFOs) in China expressed more confidence in their national economy than others in the Asia region, according to a survey conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bloomberg reported. China CFOs ranked prospects for the Chinese economy at 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10, above the regional average of 5.9. The issue of the most concern to China CFOs was inflation, according to an accompanying press release. In the broader Asia region, 35% of CFOs expressed that foreign competition was a significant concern, and 72% said competition was likely to come from China. BoAML conducted the survey of 465 Asian CFOs of companies with at least US$500 million in annual revenue between September 28 and November 30, including 75 CFOs in China.