A report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China comes as companies say Beijing is violating the spirit of market-opening commitments by trying to reserve segments of its economy for domestic companies in an effort to build up Chinese global competitors.
The chamber highlighted complaints about efforts to nurture China’s computer and other technology companies — a policy dubbed "indigenous innovation" — by favoring them in government procurement and other areas.
American companies are "troubled by a mounting number of policy challenges ranging from the inconsistent enforcement of laws, to China’s discriminatory domestic innovation policies and regulations that limit market access into sectors that had been increasingly open to foreign investment for the past 30 years," the group said in an annual report on business conditions.
Associated Press reported said a survey of 388 companies found for the first time that inconsistent regulation has become the most significant challenge faced by American companies in China. Previously they cited trouble finding enough Chinese managers as their biggest problem.