Despite a global coronavirus pandemic that began in China, 2020 has transformed into the year it all came together for the country’s capital markets, as foreign investors snapped up more than Rmb1tn worth of stocks and bonds.
China’s benchmark CSI 300 index is up about 27 per cent this year, in dollar terms, beating the S&P 500 by more than 13 percentage points. Shenzhen’s tech-focused ChiNext has risen some 59 per cent, on the same basis, exceeding even the runaway US tech benchmark, the Nasdaq Composite. Chinese government bonds have also drawn new fans with their rare source of yield.
The $150bn-worth of inflows, which came through Hong Kong programmes that connect investors to the mainland, mark a contrast with January, when Chinese stocks were the first in the world to feel the heat from the pandemic. Investors say the surge is likely to keep coming.