Investors eye up a new round of Chinese stimulus

Chinese policymakers have announced new stimulus measures to contain the fallout from the coronavirus. Asset managers are already positioning themselves.

The People’s Bank of China has pumped extra liquidity into the economy
(Image credit: 2013 AFP)

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) pumped ¥1.2trn (£130bn) of extra liquidity into money markets on Monday. Banks have been told not to call in loans made to companies in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak. Annualised first-quarter growth could sink as low as 4.5%; in 2019 GDP rose by 6.1%.

The new stimulus is limited for now. It is aimed at keeping the financial system running and offering targeted help to affected sectors and regions, say Chang Shu and David Qu of Bloomberg Economics. But once the virus is contained authorities are likely to shift towards a more general push to revive growth.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.