Liontrust's Williams: A dramatic week for China?

Mark Williams, manager of the Liontrust Asia Income fund, assesses two major events in China which coincided with the fund's second anniversary last week.

Two significant events took place in China last week: the first day of this year’s annual National People’s Congress (NPC), and the announcement of the country's first ever domestic bond default. Over the next few days, newsflow from the NPC should indicate the conviction of China’s politicians to implement reforms first announced last November in the third plenum. We do not anticipate any policy announcements from Premier Li Keqiang or President Xi Jinping which would alter our positive view on Chinese equities, but we would welcome further confirmation that progress is being made to...