Reuters :
JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) is seeing signs of an improving economy in China that will bolster the bank’s business in the country after a sluggish period, its CEO of asset and wealth management Mary Erdoes said.
US companies are assessing their prospects in China as its economy recovers unevenly and relations worsen between the two nations. For banks, sluggish capital markets have weighed on activity in China, and investors are watching the effect of government support measures on the economy.
“The business environment in China has been challenging in recent years, but sentiment began turning more bullish in March,” Erdoes said in an interview at the bank’s headquarters in New York.
China’s consumer spending is showing some signs of recovery, and while the country is still grappling with real estate problems, the government is looking at ways to fix those, both “positive signs”, she said.
Erdoes, one of four executives recently identified by the bank’s board as a potential successor to CEO Jamie Dimon when he eventually steps down, visited China last month to present at an annual Global China summit hosted by the bank in Shanghai. Attendance increased from last year to more than 3,000 delegates from across 33 countries as clients sought to gauge whether to revive their investments in China, she said.