Hopes that China’s stock markets have finally shed their multi-year losing streak may have been dashed again. Since February 6, just before China’s New Year holiday, the Shanghai Composite Index has slumped 5.6 percent. That follows what had been an encouraging 20 percent-plus rise in the couple months since the market reached a dismal four-year-low, last December.
Is the most recent downturn a comment on the reform credentials or abilities of China’s new leaders, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang? Or does it say something about the skills of the recently appointed chairman of China’s securities regulator, Xiao Gang, previously at the Bank of China? Or is the market slump an omen of a coming downturn in the overall economy?
Read Full Article »