China: What does the New Year hold?

Liz Evans, Asia-Pacific fund manager at Cavendish Asset Management, gives her views on what the Year of the Dragon has in store for equity investors.

As China celebrates its New Year festivities, prospects are not quite so bright for the equity investor, at least for the first quarter of 2012.   Nonetheless, 2012 as a whole holds promise in comparison to 2011, which was mainly characterised by a steadfast determination to cool China’s economy through tightening measures, particularly with regard to the property market and bank lending. Restrictions on mortgage lending, interest rate rises and increased capital requirements for banks were all deployed in concert. The motivations were political as well as economic; the government need...