A change of climate: Growing appetite for structural growth themes fuels China's resurgence

Deep Dive into Chinese equities

In 2020, with the onset of Covid-19, Chinese markets were clear outperformers relative to other major markets. This was due to the Chinese government's eventual effective containment of the virus, which meant life broadly returned to normal in the country.

China was the only major economy to grow last year, with GDP growth of 2.3%, and the IMF predicts the economy will grow 8.4% in 2021. Positives include strong growth in exports, manufacturing and industrial profits. On the other hand, to support this growth China's debt-to-GDP ratio likely rose by another 30%. Consumption growth has also lagged which has put a dent in policymakers' aim to rebalance the economy.  This year, Chinese markets did well until mid-February, again outpacing other major markets. The dollar: China's Achilles heel However, at this point concerns rose over ...