A new Experian Grant Thornton survey shows business owners in China are among the most stressed in the world.

The survey results for China include the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Although not the only cause of stress, one of the research findings shows a direct correlation between the reported increase in stress and the number of days of holiday taken by executives around the world.

In East Asia, most of the business owners who suffer from increased stress levels take fewer holidays, whereas in Europe, the case is the opposite where they generally report lower levels of stress but take more holidays.
"China business owners only have a range of 8 to 11 days of holiday on average per year below the global average of 15.4 days and the higher EU average of 21.7 days," said Desmond Yuen, Partner and Head of China Services at Grant Thornton.

Taiwan, which ranks higher than other parts of China, is the highest globally with 89% of mid-size business owners feeling increased stress over the previous year.

Following Taiwan, the mainland is a very close second with 87%.

Among the 3 areas, Hong Kong (69%) is the fifth in the global rankings.

The global average increase in stress levels among the 7,000 business owners interviewed is 57% while in East Asia the average stands much higher at 77%.

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