Jan 19 (Reuters) - More U.S. companies operating in China say the enforcement of intellectual property rights has deteriorated in the last year, while the regulatory environment is the top hurdle for doing business there, a survey showed on Wednesday.
The annual survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai showed 71 percent of respondents said that enforcement of intellectual property rights had stayed the same or deteriorated in 2010, up from 61 percent in 2009 and 64 percent in 2008.
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents said the regulatory environment had either remained stable or deteriorated in the past year.
U.S. companies, however, remained upbeat about their prospects in China and 71 percent of respondents expected their 2011 revenue to increase by at least 10 percent, up from 60 percent of respondents in a similar survey last year.
China drew a record $105.7 billion in foreign direct investment last year, with inflows rising more than 17 percent from the previous year as global firms piled into the country to tap its vast and growing market. (Reporting by Kazunori Takada; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)