China: More than meets the eye?

Following the cancellation of Ant Financial’s IPO in 2020, and this year’s regulatory tightening which spanned the education, technology and property sectors, the Chinese market has come under heightened scrutiny.

Media headlines increasingly point to what some deem ‘excessive' government interference in the private sector, and the potentially negative consequences for the country's economy and investors. There has been an increased emphasis on the risks of doing business in and with China. The short-term market reaction to the regulatory crunch has been painful. China has been amongst the worst-performing markets in the MSCI Emerging Markets index this year, and by latest count is down over 20%, reversing some of the significant gains of 27% posted in 2020. The regulatory announcements took th...