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

Clampdown has prompted stock market bounce

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...