There was an overflow crowd of more than 700 at the elegant Daiyutai state guesthouse in Beijing in mid-June when the Asset Management Association of China held its third annual meeting with the blessing of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
The state of China’s capital markets and asset management industry have finally become top priorities for the government and the party, which imbued the gathering with inspirational fervour.
If China is really to rely more on consumer spending for economic growth and less on fixed asset investment when state-owned enterprises are already suffering from too much investment, savers must be allowed to earn at least modestly interesting sums on their money. Today they have few choices. They can either receive artificially low and barely positive interest on their deposits or invest in the momentum-driven insiders’ stock market or an overvalued property market that is now coming down.