China’s bulls stampede as recovery gathers strength

China's benchmark CSI 300 stockmarket index has gained 12% so far this year and is up by 32% since 23 March as the country's industrial and consumer recovery contnues.

Shoppers in Beijing © WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images
Foreign investors should look beyond consumer plays
(Image credit: © WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)

China’s recovery is gathering strength, say Finbarr Bermingham and Amanda Lee in the South China Morning Post. Industrial production continues to lead the way, rising by 5.6% in August on a year before. There are also signs of a consumer rebound: retail sales advanced by 0.5% on the year in August, the first growth recorded this year.

China is the only big economy the International Monetary Fund thinks will expand this year. The encouraging economic backdrop means the bulls are out in force. The benchmark CSI 300 stock market index has gained 12% so far this year and is up by 32% since 23 March.

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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.