The first group of passengers from Europe arrive at St. Pancras International Station on the first day after Brexit in London, Britain on Feb 1, 2020. Britain officially left the European Union (EU) at 11 p.m. (2300 GMT) Friday, putting an end to its 47-year-long membership of the world's largest trading bloc. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

Despite business activity subdued in the short-term, the Chinese market will rebound and its long-term prospect remains rosy, the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) noted on Wednesday. 

In an interview with the Global Times on Wednesday, Steven Lynch, Managing Director, British Chamber of Commerce in China, said BCC released an initial impact report to understand the effect of COVID-19 on British businesses in China, and 97 percent of the businesses surveyed acknowledged a severe disruption to their operations.

However, he noted it is too early to deduce the actual economic impact.

“As understandably there will be short term losses; however, if SARS is any indication as to what might unfold post-Covid-19, UK business will be resilient and remain committed to the China market,” he said.

A source close to the British Dyson told the Global Times there have been limited impacts on their business performance in China.

"Offline sales have been affected [amid the epidemic outbreak]," she said. "But the good news is that we can still get a boost from our online store." Dyson employees in China yet to resume full-scale work, and they are currently teleworking.

Edmund Yang, a Pricewaterhouse Coopers partner in Beijing, said while trying to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on businesses, they also use their expertise to help their clients by arranging a series of online sharing sessions on how to manage emerging issues from various perspectives such as legal and tax. 

"Many organizations have sophisticated contingency plans, which enable a rapid response to a crisis. Almost every single company has implemented remote working policies to ensure some level of business continuity," Lynch said.

Most British companies in China expect businesses to recommence normal operations by either the end of February or the end of March, according to a BCC survey on February 10.