European companies, many of which have operated in China for decades, are finding it increasingly difficult to do business in the country, another sign of how China’s weak domestic economy and opaque regulations are testing even longstanding multinational business ties.

欧洲企业发现在中国开展业务越来越困难，即便是那些在华扎根几十年的企业也不例外，这一现象再次表明，中国疲软的国内经济和不透明的监管环境正考验着甚至长久存在的跨国商业关系。

European automakers have been rapidly losing market share and face many political difficulties. Volkswagen agreed last December to sell its factory in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing has repressed Muslim ethnic groups. European pharmaceutical and medical imaging equipment companies have found themselves locked out of much of the state-run health system.

欧洲的汽车制造商们已在中国迅速失去市场份额，同时还面临诸多政治层面的挑战。大众汽车去年12月宣布出售公司位于中国西北部新疆地区的工厂，中国政府一直在该地区压制穆斯林少数民族。欧洲的制药和医学影像设备公司已发现自己基本上被中国政府的医保系统拒之门外。

An extensive annual survey of businesses released on Wednesday by the European Chamber of Commerce in China found that nearly three-quarters said it was getting harder to operate in China. It was the fourth consecutive year that the survey showed deepening corporate pessimism.

中国欧盟商会周三发布的一项年度企业调查显示，近四分之三的欧洲企业表示在华经营难度持续增加。这是该调查连续第四年显示企业悲观情绪在加剧。

The proportion of European companies that plan to expand their operations in China has also fallen to a record low, with just 38 percent saying that they intend to do so this year. European investment has been important in bringing Western technology to China and in bringing Chinese products to world markets.

打算扩大在华业务的欧洲企业比例也降到历史最低点，只有38%的企业表示今年有这种打算。长期以来，欧洲投资在将西方技术引入中国以及将中国产品推向世界市场上发挥着重要作用。

The chamber, which has been gauging challenges companies face in China for a quarter century, represents the interests of some 1,700 companies, from industrial giants like VW to small businesses with a handful of employees who are cogs in global supply chains.

过去25年来，中国欧盟商会一直在评估企业在华面临的挑战，商会代表着约1700家企业的利益，其中既有大众汽车这样的工业巨头，也包括只有少数员工但在全球供应链中不可或缺的小企业。

The chamber’s survey also unearthed a somewhat contradictory trend that could prove troublesome for President Trump’s attempt to shield American manufacturing from China’s exports with tariffs. Even as European businesses curb their own investments in China, some are also buying ever more components from Chinese companies. That makes their supply chains even more dependent on China.

该商会的调查还发现了一个有些矛盾的趋势，这可能会给特朗普总统试图通过来关税保护美国制造业不受中国出口产品冲击的努力带来麻烦。就在欧洲企业减少在华投资的同时，一些企业却正在从中国企业那里购买越来越多的零部件。这让它们的供应链更依赖中国。

China has retaliated against Mr. Trump’s tariffs by imposing its own tariffs on American goods. That has prompted a hunt by European companies in China for Chinese replacements for the few components they were still buying from the United States, said Jens Eskelund, the chamber’s president.

中国已对特朗普的关税采取了反制措施，对美国商品加征了自己的关税。这已促使在华经营的欧洲企业开始寻找替代它们仍在从美国购买的少数零部件的中国产品，中国欧盟商会主席彦辞(Jens Eskelund)说。

中国欧盟商会主席彦辞说，欧洲企业能在中国以比其他任何地方“都低的价格买到更好的零部件”。

A broad fall in prices in China has made Chinese components too good a deal for many European companies to pass up. A recent weakening of China’s currency against the euro has made Chinese components even more attractive.

中国商品价格大范围下降，已使购买中国零部件对许多欧洲企业来说是不能错过的好买卖。人民币兑欧元汇率最近走弱，进一步增强了中国零部件的吸引力。

“The one place where they actually get better components at a lower price than anywhere else in the world is here in China,” Mr. Eskelund said.

“他们能以全球最低价格获得更优质零部件的唯一地方，就是中国，”彦辞说。

Not only the United States, but the European Union and other countries have imposed tariffs lately in response to China’s soaring exports of manufactured goods and tepid demand for imports. European companies that export from China to other markets had long feared possible trade barriers, but some were still caught off guard.

作为对中国制成品出口飙升、进口需求低迷的回应，最近对中国商品加征关税的不只是美国，也有欧盟和其他国家。把商品从中国出口到其他市场的欧洲公司长期以来一直担心贸易壁垒，但有些公司仍被新关税搞得措手不及。

“That fear has turned into a nightmare for many at the moment,” said Klaus Zenkel, a businessman in Shenzhen who is a member of the chamber’s South China chapter.

“那种担心对许多人来说如今已变成一场噩梦，”常驻深圳的商业人士、中国欧盟商会华南区分会主席高志豪(Klaus Zenkel)说。

Some companies have set up temporary assembly operations in other countries to bypass American tariffs, Mr. Zenkel said. They rent warehouses in places like Taiwan, do the final assembly of Chinese components in the warehouses and then ship the finished goods to the United States with customs declarations that no longer show the goods as coming from China.

高志豪表示，一些企业已在其他国家设立了临时组装厂，以规避美国的关税。它们在台湾等地租用仓库，在仓库里对中国零部件进行最后的组装，然后将成品运往美国，在报关单上不再标明货物来自中国。

The Trump administration is trying to reduce these indirect shipments from China. Mr. Trump has threatened high tariffs against countries that run large trade surpluses with the United States.

特朗普政府正试图减少这种来自中国的间接出口。特朗普已威胁要对那些与美国存在巨额贸易顺差的国家征收高额关税。

One category of business conditions has improved very markedly in China in the past year, according to the European chamber’s survey.

据欧洲商会的调查，过去一年中有一类营商环境指标在中国显著改善。

The share of European companies worried about rising wages has fallen steeply over the last several years, and these now rank among the least of their concerns. Labor costs had been rising along with China’s surging housing prices. But that bubble burst in 2021, causing declines in construction that eliminated many jobs.

担心中国工资上涨的欧洲企业的比例过去几年来急剧下降，这个问题在它们的关注排名中目前垫底。此前，劳动力成本曾随着中国房价的飙升而上涨。但中国的房价泡沫已在2021年破裂，导致了建筑业衰退，大量就业岗位流失。

In turn, flat or even falling wages have contributed to weak demand in China for everything from imported cosmetics to hotel rooms — resulting in broadly low prices, a potentially dangerous phenomenon known as deflation.

反过来，工资不再增长甚至下降，导致中国对从进口化妆品到酒店客房等各种商品的需求疲软，进而造成了普遍的价格低迷，出现了一种被称为通货紧缩的潜在危险。

“By a wide margin, it is China’s economic slowdown that is seen as having the greatest impact,” Mr. Eskelund said.

“企业把中国经济放缓视为影响最大的因素，比其他因素大得多，”彦辞说。