First State Stewart Asia on China and why it has $2bn invested in A-shares

Clampdown has prompted stock market bounce

clock • 3 min read

All hail China. It could have been scripted, but with the 19th National Party Congress (and Xi Jinping's coronation) recently completed, it was a fair bet that things would continue to spin along in a favourable manner. And they have, despite rising levels of debt and slowing GDP growth, writes Richard Jones, portfolio manager at First State Stewart Asia.

A clampdown on some very high profile local investors, in respect of overseas ambitions and investment, as well as a purge of some of the more aggressive Ponzi-esque insurance companies, has prompted a strong yuan recovery and a stockmarket bounce. Now that the Party Congress is over, perhaps things will become less one-directional with rumours of stockmarket support and the like. We have become more sanguine about the outlook for China. While debt levels are high, to the point (250-300% of GDP) that has seen other countries throughout history get into trouble, perhaps China is indeed di...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on Asia

Kepler Partners' Josef Licsauer: Why it could finally be Japan's time in the sun

Kepler Partners' Josef Licsauer: Why it could finally be Japan's time in the sun

'Once-moribund stock market'

Josef Licsauer
clock 16 July 2024 • 5 min read
Value Partners Group's David Townsend: Unlocking the potential of China's A-share market

Value Partners Group's David Townsend: Unlocking the potential of China's A-share market

For more than two decades, China's domestic stock markets have beckoned foreign investors with the promise of riding the wave of the nation's phenomenal economic expansion.

David Townsend
clock 20 June 2024 • 4 min read
Chikara's Andrew Draycott: A letter from India

Chikara's Andrew Draycott: A letter from India

'Everything starts to make more sense'

Andrew Draycott
clock 19 June 2024 • 4 min read
Trustpilot