American companies are more confident that China will continue to open up to foreign investment in the coming years. That's according to a fresh report from The American Chamber of Commerce in China. The report also expects that ties between the US and China will continue to improve. CGTN's Grace Shao has the details.

On January 30th, the American Chamber of Commerce and Bain and Company co-announced the results of the 2018 Business Climate Survey Report. It showcased the surveyed American businesses' "cautious optimism" towards China's steady economic growth, and the transition to a "new normal".

STEPHEN SHIH, PARTNER BAIN & COMPANY "The economic growth and market growth for many companies this year was fairly strong, this was consistent across sectors with many more companies reported increase revenue growth in China. This has led to some optimism in the market and the outlook for growth in 2018 is also more positive this year than 12 months ago."

WILLIAM ZARIT, CHAIRMAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE "We find that the consumer sector seems to be the most optimistic, we find the technology and R&D intensive companies are probably the least optimistic."

GRACE SHAO BEIJING "The American Chamber of Commerce in China represents more than 33 hundred individuals from 900 firms across China. Nearly half have completed a significant portion of the survey, outlining their challenges which include market restrictions, and often unfair enforcement of rules and regulations. Although these firms are facing challenges when doing business in China, more than 60 percent of companies surveyed reported a profitable year in 2017, mostly due to the sheer size of the Chinese market and the overall high performance of the Chinese economy."

Although there are complaints when it comes to regulations, companies operating in China - especially in the service and consumer sectors - see the value of the Chinese market.

WILLIAM ZARIT, CHAIRMAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE "We certainly want to avoid a trade war, in the medium and long term, it benefits nobody. Our two economies are so intertwined and in a way, codependent, and what we would like to see is to get to an economic relationship that is based on fairness and reciprocal treatment."

China is opening the doors to its financial sector, and moving ahead with plans to lowering barriers to entry in many industries. China is adapting to a new role as a leader in digital economy and creating a favorable climate that won't leave foreign businesses out to dry. Grace Shao CGTN, Beijing.