THE business environment has improved for British companies in China over the past year despite a "generally pessimistic" outlook, says the British Chamber of Commerce in China, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

The chamber continued to ask for "meaningful" regulatory reform from Beijing amid "mixed signals" from the Chinese government, British firms believe Beijing needs to take more action on long-standing market access issues to boost confidence, said the chamber.

"For British businesses, which have long championed open global trade with China, the current ambiguity is frustrating," said chamber chairman Julian Fisher.

"Despite this, we recognise the remarkable progress in areas such as intellectual property rights and legal support for international businesses," he said.

Economists said the improvement in Europe's balance of trade reflected the region's weak domestic demand and a reversal of the post-pandemic