Answer :
The word that best completes the statement is "profit". The completed statement now is:
"Even if these owners were to return and try to get their businesses going again, they would have a great deal of difficulty because chinese business is based on profit, which they have destroyed."
"Even if these owners were to return and try to get their businesses going again, they would have a great deal of difficulty because chinese business is based on profit, which they have destroyed."