THE CPA AUSTRALIA
ASIA-PACIFIC
SMALL BUSINESS
SURVEY 2015
SHANGHAI REPORT
2 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
LEGAL NOTICE
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ISBN: 978-1-921742-80-4
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First published 2016
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3 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
OVERVIEW
CPA Australia Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey 2015 is the sixth in a series of annual reports measuring small
business confidence, the drivers of confidence, technology uptake and access to finance by small businesses. The
data is compared across the eight economies included in this survey and over time.
In total, 2932 participants completed the survey, including 510 from Australia, 610 from the mainland of China, 265
from Hong Kong, 306 from Indonesia, 310 from Malaysia, 311 from New Zealand, 310 from Singapore and 310
from Vietnam.
Of the 610 participants from the mainland of China, 155 were from Beijing, 152 were from Chongqing, 147 were
from Guangzhou and 156 were from Shanghai.
The online survey was conducted with a random sample of small business owners/managers between 24
September and 14 October 2015. The sample was obtained through panel providers. To qualify for the survey,
participants were required to be an owner, a senior manager (defined as being a director, a principal, a CEO, a
CFO, a senior manager or a managing director) or a qualified accountant of a business with fewer than 20
employees.
4 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
SUMMARY OF SHANGHAI RESULTS
Small businesses in Shanghai are positive, innovating, growing their e-commerce
presence and outcompeting businesses from Hong Kong and Singapore in many areas.
CPA Australia’s Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey reveals that Shanghai’s small businesses are growing, expect
China’s economy to keep growing, and have a strong focus on innovation, e-commerce and social media.
The focus on innovation, e-commerce, social media and improving business management is flowing through to
business growth, with 79.5 per cent of small businesses from Shanghai reporting growing in the past 12 months, a
rise of 12.9 percentage points from the last survey. This strong sentiment is expected to continue in 2016, with 76.9
per cent expecting to grow in the next 12 months (above the survey average of 70.7 per cent).
1
Of the cities from the mainland of China included in this survey, small businesses from Shanghai were the most
likely to state they grew in the past 12 months. Shanghai small businesses were also much more likely to report
growing than small businesses from Hong Kong (63.8 per cent) and Singapore (58.7 per cent).
With China’s economy being impacted by a variety of factors, including slowing domestic growth (which remains
very strong, however) and weak recoveries in the economies of the US, Japan and the euro area, the increase in
the number of small businesses that reported growing in the past 12 months shows the resilience of Shanghai’s
and China’s small business sector.
Such resilience and their focus on innovation, e-commerce, social media and improving business management
should mean that Shanghai’s small businesses are well placed to take advantage of opportunities emerging from
government policies, including the Belt and Road initiative.
This strong growth is translating through to the sector being a large creator of new jobs in Shanghai, with 39.7 per
cent of Shanghai’s small business respondents increasing employee numbers in the past 12 months, above the
survey average of 33.1 per cent and higher than Hong Kong (32.5 per cent) and Singapore (19.7 per cent).
The survey results clearly demonstrate that there are good reasons to be confident in Shanghai’s small business
sector, with Shanghai small businesses being more likely to expect to undertake innovation in the next 12 months
through the definite introduction of a new product, service or process that is unique to China or the world than small
businesses from Hong Kong or Singapore (25.0 per cent of Shanghai’s small businesses compared with 17.7 per
cent of Hong Kong’s and 15.2 per cent of Singapore’s). However, small businesses from other cities in China report
being more innovative, particularly Beijing where 41.3 per cent definitely expect to undertake innovation.
Innovation is not the only area in which Shanghai’s small businesses are outcompeting businesses from Hong
Kong and Singapore. Shanghai’s small businesses also are more likely to focus on:
 generating revenue from online sales (92.3 per cent of Shanghai’s small businesses reported earning some
income from online sales, compared with 80.4 per cent of Hong Kong’s small businesses and 63.6 per cent of
Singapore’s small businesses)
1
Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai
5 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
 using social media for business purposes (96.2 per cent of Shanghai’s small businesses use social media for
business purposes compared with 93.2 per cent of Hong Kong’s small businesses and 63.6 per cent of
Singapore’s small businesses)
 improved business management (32.1 per cent of Shanghai’s small businesses stated that improved business
management had a major positive impact on their business in the past 12 months compared with 20.4 per cent
of Hong Kong’s small businesses and 20.3 per cent of Singapore’s small businesses).
This strong focus on innovation, e-commerce, social media and improving business management means that
Shanghai’s small businesses are in a good position to outcompete their less nimble and tech-savvy competitors
and remain competitive against small business from Hong Kong, Singapore and other parts of China.
Shanghai’s small businesses are also facing challenges. Like their counterparts in Hong Kong, many Shanghai
small businesses stated that increasing costs had a major negative impact on their business in the past 12 months
and that rent was the cost having the most detrimental impact on their business.
It seems, however, that Shanghai’s small businesses are responding well to this challenge. The focus on ecommerce can reduce a business’s need for floor space, particularly in high rental locations, while still maintaining
the ability to reach out to customers. The focus on improving business management should provide many of
Shanghai’s small businesses with the know-how to better manage cost pressures.
The range of initiatives China’s government has implemented or is implementing to encourage innovation, such as
the guidelines to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation and the ‘Made in China 2025’ plan, should further
inculcate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst Shanghai’s small businesses. Such a culture
should help Shanghai’s small businesses compete and help drive the next phase of China’s astonishing economic
growth story.
Shanghai’s small businesses are not only growing strongly, creating jobs and preparing for the future; they are also
well placed to compete with small businesses in other major global business centres such as Hong Kong and
Singapore.
Other results from the survey:
Demographics
 Respondents from Shanghai are typically below age 40 (64.8 per cent) with the business established less than
10 years ago (66.7 per cent).
 There is a strong correlation between younger business owners and those businesses that expect to grow, sell
online, use social media for business purposes and innovate through the introduction of new products,
processes or services.
6 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
Access to finance
 Those Shanghai small businesses that sought finance in the past 12 months were significantly more likely to
find the experience easier than in 2014 (57.1 per cent found access to finance easy or very easy in this survey
compared with 28.5 per cent from the last survey).
 While government policies to encourage more lending to the sector by the nation’s banks would have influenced
this easing of finance conditions, small businesses in Shanghai remain almost as likely to seek finance outside
of the banking sector.
 Funding business growth remains the most important reason for accessing external finance.
7 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
MAJOR FINDINGS FOR SHANGHAI
Shanghai’s small businesses, with their reasonably strong focus on
innovation, are well placed to grow, create jobs and export in 2016,
although there is some room for improvement.
With small businesses with an e-commerce presence being more
likely to be growing and creating jobs, Shanghai’s very strong
focus on e-commerce is a distinct competitive advantage for its
business and the economy.
With small businesses that expect to grow revenue from
exporting being more likely to be growing and creating jobs,
more small businesses from Shanghai should consider having
a stronger focus on exporting.
With the survey results showing a strong connection
between social media use and business growth, the very
strong uptake of social media by Shanghai’s small
businesses is a competitive advantage.
Reflecting strong business conditions, over four in ten of
Shanghai’s small businesses plan to increase their headcount
in 2016.
Growth prospects for Shanghai’s small businesses in 2016 are up
while economic confidence remains steady but high.
Access to finance became easier for a significant number of small
businesses from Shanghai.
8 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
KEY SURVEY FINDINGS FOR SHANGHAI
INNOVATION
Shanghai’s small businesses, with their reasonably strong focus on innovation2, are well
placed to grow, create jobs and export in 2016, although there is some room for
improvement.
Small businesses that in the next 12 months will definitely introduce a new product, service or
process that is unique to their market or the world
30%
Shanghai
25%
20%
Hong Kong
Singapore
15%
10%
2
Innovation, for the purpose of the survey, is taken to be the introduction of a new product, service or process that is unique to a market or the
world.
9 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
The relationship between innovation and jobs creation, business growth and exporting
Percentage that expect to
definitely introduce a
product, service or
process that is new to
their market or the world
EMPLOYEE NUMBERS
Expecting to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
BUSINESS GROWTH
Expecting to grow their business in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to grow their business in the next 12 months
EXPORTING
Expecting revenue from overseas sales to grow strongly in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to grow their revenue from overseas sales in the next 12 months
10 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
With China’s small business sector being a leader on innovation in the region, small businesses from Shanghai are
well placed to grow and outcompete their rivals from Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. However,
with small businesses from Beijing being much more likely to expect to innovate (41.3 per cent of Beijing small
businesses definitely expect to innovate in the next 12 months compared with 25.0 per cent for Shanghai), there is
scope for more small businesses from Shanghai to focus on innovation.
With the survey results showing that innovative businesses are significantly more likely to be growing, exporting
and creating jobs, it is easy to see why China’s government is focused on promoting innovation through policies
encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and improving manufacturing innovation through the ‘Made in
China 2025’ national plan. As a recent OECD paper on innovation stated, ‘in the long run, it is difficult to imagine
growth without innovation’.
Businesses are also more likely to definitely expect to undertake innovation in the next 12 months through the
introduction of a new product, service or process that is unique to their market or the world if they:
 have a business owner/manager aged under 40
 have between 5 and 19 staff
 are in the banking, finance and insurance sector, or the manufacturing sector.
KEY FINDING
Shanghai’s small businesses, with their reasonably strong focus on innovation, are in a good position to grow,
create jobs and export in 2016 and beyond. We suggest that those small businesses from Shanghai that are not
innovating should consider taking advantage of the support the government offers to promote innovation.
11 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
E-COMMERCE
With small businesses with an e-commerce presence being more likely to be growing
and creating jobs, Shanghai’s very strong focus on e-commerce is a distinct competitive
advantage for its business and the economy.
Small businesses that generated revenue from online sales
100%
Shanghai
90%
80%
Hong Kong
70%
60%
Singapore
50%
Small businesses that intend to grow their e-commerce presence to a large extent in next 12
months
50%
Hong Kong
40%
30%
Shanghai
20%
Singapore
10%
12 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
The relationship between e-commerce and business growth, jobs creation and exporting
Percentage that expect to
grow their e-commerce
presence to a large
extent
BUSINESS GROWTH
Expecting to grow their business in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to grow their business in the next 12 months
EMPLOYEE NUMBERS
Expecting to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
EXPORTING
Expecting revenue from overseas sales to grow strongly over the next 12 months
NOT expecting to sell into overseas markets in the next 12 months
13 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
Small businesses from Shanghai are among the leaders in generating revenue from online sales across the region.
This advantage is likely to be maintained, at least in 2016, with nearly three in ten (29.5 per cent) small businesses
from Shanghai expecting to grow their e-commerce presence strongly in the next 12 months.
It should be noted, however, that a significant majority of small businesses from Beijing, Hong Kong and
Chongqing also generate income from online sales and that they are more likely to expect to grow their ecommerce presence strongly in comparison with Shanghai.
With the survey results showing that small businesses that are selling online and seeking to grow their e-commerce
presence are significantly more likely to be growing and creating jobs, it is easy to see why so many small
businesses in Shanghai have an e-commerce presence.
The focus on e-commerce should also assist small businesses from Shanghai reduce the impact that rent has on
their business. E-commerce allows some businesses to take up less floor space, particularly in high rental
locations, and it allows them to remain connected with customers, many of whom are becoming increasingly
familiar with purchasing goods and services online.
Small businesses are also more likely to earn income from online sales where:




they have between 5 and 19 staff
the business has been established for less than 21 years
the respondent is aged under 40
the business is in the manufacturing sector.
KEY FINDING
The high degree of focus on e-commerce by Shanghai’s small businesses is a key competitive advantage for
those businesses and the economy. It should also allow many of Shanghai’s small businesses to better control
rent costs and connect with more customers.
14 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
SMALL BUSINESS AND EXPORTING
With small businesses that expect to grow revenue from exporting being more likely to
be growing and creating jobs, more small businesses from Shanghai should consider
having a stronger focus on exporting.
Small businesses expecting that revenue from overseas sales will grow strongly in the next 12
months
25%
20%
Hong
Kong
Singapore
15%
10%
Shanghai
5%
0%
The relationship between exporting, and jobs creation and business growth
Percentage that expect
their revenue from
exporting to grow
strongly
EMPLOYEE NUMBERS
Expecting to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
15 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
BUSINESS GROWTH
Expecting to grow their business in the next 12 months
NOT expecting to grow their business in the next 12 months
While two-thirds of Shanghai’s small businesses expect to grow their revenue from overseas sales in the next 12
months, they are somewhat behind other markets, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Guangzhou and Beijing, in
expecting that revenue to grow strongly. Given the weak environment in a number of key export markets, including
the US, the euro area and Japan, such a result is not surprising.
With the survey results showing that small businesses that are exporting are more likely to be growing and creating
jobs, this overall focus on exporting is a competitive advantage for Shanghai’s small businesses and the economy
more broadly. However, the advantage could be greater if more businesses had a focus on growing revenue from
exports strongly.
While such an export focus does come with risks, including foreign exchange risks and the potential for downturns
in key markets, the advantages of exporting over focusing on the domestic market are significant. A focus on the
domestic market limits growth potential and increases the business’s risk exposure should the local economy slow.
It also means that the business may be less exposed to competitive pressures, which the survey results show may
have a negative impact on innovation and growth. Further, the business may be less exposed to new ideas from
other markets, which may also negatively impact innovation.
With the survey results showing a strong link between increasing revenue from exporting and business growth and
jobs creation, it is easy to see why governments across the region are taking action to support and encourage
international trade with initiatives such as the Belt and Road initiative and the China-Australia Free Trade
Agreement.
Small businesses are also more likely to expect strong growth in their earnings from overseas in the next 12
months if:




the business is in the manufacturing sector
the business has between 5 and 19 employees
the respondent is aged under 50
the business has been established for less than 21 years.
16 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
KEY FINDING
The focus of many of Shanghai’s small businesses on exporting is a competitive advantage for them and the
economy. With a strong connection between exporting and growth and jobs, more small businesses from
Shanghai should consider a greater focus on exporting as part of their business strategy.
17 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
SOCIAL MEDIA
With the survey results showing a strong connection between social media use and
business growth, the very strong uptake of social media by Shanghai’s small businesses
is a competitive advantage.
Small businesses that used social media in their business
100%
Hong Kong
Shanghai
90%
80%
Singapore
70%
60%
With the survey results showing a connection between social media use for business purposes and business
growth, the very strong uptake of social media amongst Shanghai’s small businesses gives them a competitive
advantage, particularly over businesses from Australia and New Zealand where the number of small businesses
using social media is significantly lower.
With customers being increasingly likely to seek to communicate and transact with businesses via social media, a
robust social media presence should enhance a small business’s ability to attract, retain and transact with
customers. It could enhance their brand reputation and assist them to grow their business.
Those that use social media use it for a variety of purposes including communicating with existing customers,
promoting their business to potential customers, and selling their products or services.
Small businesses are significantly less likely to be using social media for business purposes where:



the respondent is aged 50 or over
the business has been established for over 20 years
the business has four or fewer staff.
KEY FINDING
With small businesses using social media being more likely to grow, the large-scale adoption of social media by
Shanghai’s small businesses is a competitive advantage that should help generate future growth.
18 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESSES
Reflecting strong business conditions, over four in ten of Shanghai’s small businesses
plan to increase their headcount in 2016.
Small businesses that increased employee numbers over the past 12 months
50%
Shanghai
40%
30%
Hong Kong
20%
Singapore
10%
Small businesses that expect to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months
50%
Shanghai
40%
30%
Hong Kong
Singapore
20%
10%
19 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
Relationship between jobs creation and business growth, innovation, exporting and e-commerce
Percentage that expect to
increase employee
numbers in the next 12
months
BUSINESS GROWTH
Expecting to grow in the coming 12 months
NOT expecting to grow in the coming 12 months
INNOVATION
Definitely expecting to introduce a new product, service or process unique to their
country or the world
NOT expecting to introduce a new product, service or process unique to their country
or the world
EXPORTING
Expect to grow export revenue strongly
NOT expecting to sell into overseas markets
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E-COMMERCE
Expect to grow their e-commerce presence to a large extent
NOT expecting to grow their e-commerce presence
The increase in the number of small businesses from Shanghai that are expecting their business to grow in 2016
from 2015 is flowing through to job creation, with 45.5 per cent of small businesses planning to increase employee
numbers in the next 12 months. While this reading is above the forecasts for Hong Kong and Singapore, it is the
lowest reading of the cities from the mainland of China included in this survey, particularly Chongqing where 60.5
per cent of businesses expect to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months.
Other factors contributing to this healthy jobs projection include the strong focus on innovation, e-commerce and
social media by many of Shanghai’s small businesses.
Over the next 12 months, businesses that expect to increase employee numbers are also considerably more likely
to:
 intend to significantly increase their e-commerce presence
 strongly grow their revenue from overseas sales
 innovate through definitely introducing a new product, service or process.
Small businesses are also more likely to expect to increase employee numbers over the next 12 months if:
 the business is in the manufacturing, accommodation or food services industry
 the business has between 5 and 19 staff
 the respondent is aged under 40.
KEY FINDING
A stronger focus on exporting by more small businesses in Shanghai should lead to more jobs being created.
21 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Growth prospects for Shanghai’s small businesses in 2016 are up while economic
confidence remains steady but high.
Small businesses that grew over the past 12 months
90%
Shanghai
80%
70%
60%
Hong
Kong
Singapore
50%
40%
Small businesses that expect their business to grow in the coming 12 months
90%
Shanghai
80%
70%
60%
50%
Hong
Kong
Singapore
40%
Small businesses that expect their local economy to grow over the next 12 months
90%
80%
Shanghai
70%
60%
50%
40%
Hong
Kong
Singapore
22 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
Over three-quarters of small businesses from Shanghai expect their business to grow in 2016, an 11.7 percentage
point increase from their forecast for 2015. This is significantly higher than the percentage of Australian, New
Zealand, Hong Kong and Singaporean small businesses that expect to grow in 2016. The reading is largely in line
with the percentage of small businesses that expect to grow in the other cities from the mainland of China included
in this survey.
Just over seven in ten small businesses from Shanghai expect China’s economy to grow in 2016, up slightly from
the forecast for 2015. This strong level of small business confidence in China’s economy comes at a time when
China is under a range of pressures including slowing domestic growth (although it remains very robust),
uncertainty over US interest rates, and weaker than expected recoveries in the economies of the US, Japan and
the euro area.
Small businesses that expect to innovate, grow their e-commerce presence to a large extent and strongly grow
revenue from exports are significantly more likely to expect their business to grow in the next 12 months. In
addition, small businesses are also more likely to expect to grow if:
 they have between 5 and 19 employees
 the respondent is aged under 50
 the business reported growing in the past 12 months.
Further, small businesses are more likely to expect their local economy to grow if:
 they have between 5 and 19 employees
 they are in the manufacturing, property or construction sector
 the respondent is aged under 40.
KEY FINDING
A stronger focus on exporting should lead to more small businesses from Shanghai experiencing growth
ACCESSING FINANCE
Access to finance became easier for a significant number of small businesses from
Shanghai.
Access to finance – the percentage that experienced easy to very easy financing conditions in
the previous 12 months:
60%
Shanghai
50%
Hong Kong
40%
Singapore
30%
20%
Access to finance became easy to very easy for a significantly larger number of small businesses from Shanghai in
the past 12 months. These significantly easier financing conditions are being experienced throughout China, with
small businesses in Guangzhou having the easiest access to finance across all the markets included in this survey.
These easier financing conditions do not appear to have had much impact on the demand for finance in the past 12
months, with the number of small businesses from Shanghai seeking external finance dropping 8.1 percentage
points to 76.3 per cent. The Australian and New Zealand results further demonstrate that relatively easy access to
finance does not necessarily translate into increased demand for finance.
While government policies to encourage more lending to the sector by the nation’s banks would have contributed
towards an easing of finance conditions, small businesses in Shanghai, like the other cities from the mainland of
China included in this survey, remain highly likely to seek finance outside of the banking sector, particularly from
venture capitalists, non-bank financial institutions and investors.
Shanghai’s small businesses were highly likely to have sought external finance to assist with business growth,
followed by borrowing to fund the purchase of a capital asset. The number of small businesses from Shanghai that
sought external finance for growth jumped from 21.3 per cent in 2014 to 63.0 per cent in 2015.
KEY FINDING
Accessing finance became significantly easier for many of Shanghai’s small businesses in 2015.
24 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
APPENDICES
SHANGHAI DATA SNAPSHOT – COMPARISON WITH HONG
KONG AND SINGAPORE
Business and economic growth
Shanghai small businesses that expect their
business to grow against small business growth
expectations for China's economy
Small businesses that expect their business to
grow - Shanghai against survey average
100%
100%
80%
80%
60%
60%
40%
40%
20%
20%
0%
0%
2014
Shanghai
2015
Survey average
Businesses that grew in the last 12 months
Businesses that expect to grow in the next 12 months
Businesses that expect the local economy to grow in the next
12 months
2014
2015
Expect their business to grow
Expect local economy to grow
Shanghai
79.5%
76.9%
Hong Kong
63.8%
55.1%
Singapore
58.7%
56.5%
71.1%
52.1%
48.1%
Shanghai
39.7%
Hong Kong
32.5%
Singapore
19.7%
45.5%
32.8%
27.7%
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Singapore
25.0%
17.7%
15.2%
Jobs creation
Increased employee numbers over the past 12 months
Plan to increase employee numbers over the next 12 months
Innovation
Definitely expect to introduce a new product, service or
process unique to their country or the world
25 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
Online sales and social media
Earned revenue from online sales
Expect to grow their e-commerce presence to a large extent
in the next 12 months
Used social media for business purposes
Shanghai
92.3%
Hong Kong
80.4%
Singapore
63.6%
29.5%
42.6%
19.4%
96.2%
93.2%
79.6%
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Singapore
10.9%
22.3%
17.7%
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Singapore
32.1%
20.4%
20.3%
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Singapore
39.1%
41.9%
36.1%
41.7%
41.9%
32.6%
Shanghai
36.5%
57.1%
Hong Kong
31.3%
43.5%
Singapore
15.8%
34.1%
Shanghai
66.7%
64.8%
Hong Kong
58.9%
63.4%
Singapore
65.5%
47.7%
Exporting
Expect revenue from overseas markets to grow strongly over
the next 12 months
Improved business management
Improved business management had a major positive impact
on their business
Costs
Increasing costs had a major negative impact on their
business
Rent was the cost increase most detrimental to their
business
Access to finance
Definitely will seek external funds over the next 12 months
Found it easy or very easy to access finance
Demographics
Business is 10 years old or younger
Respondent is aged 39 or younger
26 | THE CPA AUSTRALIA ASIA-PACIFIC SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY 2015 – SHANGHAI REPORT
ABOUT THE SURVEY
The CPA Australia Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey 2015 is part of a longitudinal annual study of small business
conducted by CPA Australia since 2009. This report presents a cross-market comparison between the eight
markets surveyed and, where applicable, a comparison of results from 2009 onwards. The survey was conducted
between 24 September and 14 October 2015.
The mainland of China and Vietnam were included in the survey for the first time in 2014. Indonesia and New
Zealand were included in 2011.
The survey in the mainland of China was conducted in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. All data for
China excludes Hong Kong, which is shown separately.
Interview method
In each market, the online survey was conducted amongst a random sample of small business owners/managers.
The sample was obtained through online panel provider Research Now and their Asian panel partner iPanelonline.
To qualify for the survey, participants were required to be an owner, a senior manager (defined as being a director,
a principal, a CEO, a CFO, a senior manager or a managing director) or a qualified accountant of a business with
fewer than 20 employees.
Sample
In total, 2932 participants completed the survey, including 510 from Australia, 610 from the mainland of China, 265
from Hong Kong, 306 from Indonesia, 310 from Malaysia, 311 from New Zealand, 310 from Singapore and 310
from Vietnam.
Of the 610 participants from the mainland of China, 155 were from Beijing, 152 were from Chongqing, 147 were
from Guangzhou and 156 were from Shanghai.
Questioning
Questions on small business confidence, employment, social media, costs and access to finance were drawn from
previous surveys. Some slight modifications to question wording were made to a number of those repeated
questions. Questions on innovation, major influences on the business environment, e-commerce, spending on
marketing and assets and exporting are new in this survey.
Questionnaires in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand were administered in English. The Hong Kong
questionnaire was administered in traditional Chinese, the questionnaire for Malaysia was administered in both
English and Bahasa Malaysia, Indonesia’s questionnaire was administered in Bahasa Indonesia, China’s
questionnaire was administered in simplified Chinese, and Vietnam’s questionnaire was administered in
Vietnamese.
Rounding
All percentage results shown in this report have been rounded.
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