Xi Jinping, China's president, says real estate is for housing, not for a savings account. But some provincial leaders are relaxing rules on second and third homes as a way to stimulate the economy without pumping Great Recession-era credit into the market. Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg photo credit: © 2019 Bloomberg Finance LPIt's been a good run for China's A-shares, the best performing emerging market asset class this year.
Investors are selling out of China's mainland equity markets after a 40% run-up in prices this year. Photographer:Zhu Gang/Bloomberg News. photo credit: BLOOMBERG NEWSThe People's Bank of China recently reaffirmed its aversion to Great Recession-era stimulus, something both Xi Jinping and his economic frontman Li Keqiang have come out against all year. The market largely was not buying it and made the right call as China did indeed flood the zone with new loans.
There is no explicit announcement of bank lending quotas, but Keqiang said during the"Two Sessions" meetings back in March that he wanted government banks to lend more money to small and mid-sized businesses. That seems to have happened even before he made that announcement. "We are going to move our portfolio based on valuation," says Andrew Miller, CIO for emerging market equity at Mondrian Investment Partners.
Xi Jinping once said that “houses are for living in, not speculation.” But local leaders are not seeing it that way.