GAM's Mok: Chinese equities are set to bottom out this year

Chinese equities will bottom out this year, according to Mansfield Mok, manager of the £1.2bn GAM Star China Equity fund, who also forecasts China's central bank will loosen its monetary policy in the second of half of this year.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has been trading well below its peak over the past year, and has suffered further losses more recently. It stood at 23,000 in January, before hitting a low of 21,800 in June. In 2008, it hit 33,000 but the financial crisis prompted a steep drop and the index has never fully recovered. “We are not surprised the market has fallen over the past year. The fall has been a byproduct of the Chinese government’s tightening of liquidity,” said Mok. “Looking ahead, inflationary pressures are still there, but a slowdown in the trade-off with liquidity could indic...