China’s focus of political goals like Covid Zero over economic objectives is making the country less appealing to European companies as a place to invest, a business group said, calling on Beijing to refocus on reform. Recent Chinese policy decisions mean the country is now seen as “less predictable, less reliable and less efficient” according to the report published Wednesday by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. This has led to a loss of confidence in China and firms are increasingly looking to shift planned or future investments to other markets that are seen as providing “greater reliability and predictability,” the paper said. “Business people are here for the market and we can see that because of ideology the market is shrinking,” said Joerg Wuttke, president of the chamber. “Ideology trumps the economy,” he said, referring to examples such as the dogged pursuit of controlling all Covid infections despite the rising cost, the crackdown on the tech sector, or power shortages last year driven by prioritizing emissions control over economic activity.