2020 will remain in history as a year of dramatic change. The business landscape has shifted from the initial shock at the beginning of the pandemic outbreak to a rollercoaster of geopolitical events, making forecasts more difficult than ever.

The prevailing uncertainty directly translated into this year’s Finnish Business Confidence Survey with a record amount of 120 companies across China participating and providing insights on the market conditions and expectations for 2021.

The survey was carried out simultaneously by Finnish Business Councils in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and FinnCham in Hong Kong, to better understand the business environment for Finnish and Finland-related companies in Greater China.

The Shanghai launch event was held at the SEB office and hosted in cooperation with Nordic Match, who analysed and presented the results. The event was organized as a panel discussion with Metsä Group, Kemira and Fastems, to reflect on the outcome from their respective industries.

Klaus Björkgren said:

”Despite the very challenging business environment this year, Finnish companies in China have performed well and are optimistic about growth next year, both in terms of profitability and level of investments.

My key takeaways from the survey are that Finnish companies have successfully been able to increase their sales toward domestic clients, growing from an average of 27% of revenue in 2019 to 35% in 2020. 58% of the companies expect increased profits in 2021 and 67% of companies plan to either maintain the same level of investments or increase their investments in 2021.”


About Nordic Match
Nordic Match is a boutique M&A and Strategy Advisor headquartered in Shanghai, China. Dedicated to Sino-Nordic transactions, we have a clear vision – to support aspiring corporates and investors in search for value-creating opportunities between Nordics and China.

More about Nordic Match: www.nordic-match.com