Showing 11 - 17 of 17
Chinese companies can stand a lot more sunlight
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 04/07/2017
» For all their national pride and natural boosterism, Chinese officials don't seem to think much of their own companies. Regulators have sought to limit everything from high-speed trading to short-selling, arguing Chinese firms can't yet handle the vagaries of modern financial markets. They're particularly leery of greater transparency, for fear of what might be exposed. Only last week, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) was accused of secretly tipping off key banks to dump bonds of companies that were under investigation.
Could China be close to recession?
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 02/06/2017
» For the first time, China is facing a dreaded prospect: the inverted bond yield curve. The phenomenon, in which long-term interest rates sink below short-term interest rates, has caused some consternation among market-watchers, who know it's traditionally a harbinger of recession. The inversion suggests markets expect interest rates to fall eventually as monetary authorities move to stimulate economic activity.
China stems outflows, but what's next?
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 12/04/2017
» Is China finally making headway in its battle against currency outflows? On the surface, yes: People's Bank of China foreign exchange reserves are effectively unchanged since December at US$3 trillion, and data for February released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed a significant narrowing of net outflows of capital based on international bank settlements and sales.
Beware of China's wealth-management reforms
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 07/03/2017
» A major factor behind the soaring growth of risky wealth-management products in China is that investors typically think the government stands behind them. Lately, nervous regulators have been emphasising that this isn't so. But they'll have to do a lot more to change expectations in a state-dominated economy.
Guidance on risk in China in 2017
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 30/12/2016
» Each December, China's leaders meet to lay out their economic agenda for the next year. And each December, China-watchers pore over their every word, much like Kremlinologists during the Cold War. It bears remembering that these pronouncements are rarely predictive, and that the best sources of insight on China's economy are usually found elsewhere. Here are a few key points to keep in mind next year.
Here's why GDP is China's most illusory indicator
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 28/09/2016
» Among investors and economists who study China, few arguments are more contentious than growth -- more specifically, how to measure it. Officially, China's economy has been growing at an annualised rate of nearly 10% for the past three decades. But plenty of analysts will argue that those figures are highly optimistic.
How China made itself prone to bubbles
News, Christopher Balding, Published on 10/05/2016
» Chinese markets have rarely looked more like Vegas casinos. In recent weeks, investors have driven up trading volumes in China to astronomical levels, betting on everything from rebar to eggs. China traded enough steel in one day last month to build 178,082 Eiffel Towers and enough cotton to make at least one pair of jeans for every person on the planet.