(Bloomberg) -- Large corporations in the euro area are relocating production across the globe more actively as geopolitical risks rise, according to a survey by the European Central Bank.

While more traditional motivations like lowering expenses are still driving firms to go outside the European Union, increased uncertainty was cited as a reason for recent or planned moves into the bloc, the ECB said in a research article published Monday. Activity in both directions is expected to pick up over the next five years.

The findings highlight “a shift in firms’ priorities from simply focusing on cutting costs or improving efficiency to also factoring resilience into their decisions,” it said. 

The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have underscored the fragility of global supply chains, leading firms to reconsider where they produce and procure inputs. China, whose relations with the EU and the US have become more tense, is particularly weighing on executives’ minds. 

The survey identified the Asian nation as the “dominant source of critical inputs and also the country most frequently mentioned in terms of perceived risks.” Companies plan to diversify the places from where they source inputs — even if they say that doing so is “very hard.”

The poll was based on responses from 65 companies, whose combined value added is equal to about 5% of the euro zone’s economic output. 

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