Is it right to ignore Chinese shares?

Some commentators on China fear an imminent crisis, others a continuing slowdown which will depress commodity markets and make life a bit more difficult for Western exporters.

Most Western investors have modest positions in China, if they have anything at all. The market has been out of favour for more than two years now. The media has regularly run stories about debt problems, local authority excess, monetary tightening, the slowdown in growth and the weakness of some Chinese banks. It is not surprising this has put a lot of people off buying, and persuaded others to sell. If you look at the numbers and what the Chinese have achieved, there is a different story to tell. It is true total debt in China is now greater than twice the level of annual GDP, but t...