Chinese equities have suffered a brutal sell-off since China reported a strong first-quarter of economic growth, in a sign of investor doubts over whether the country can sustain its rebound.
Stocks included in the benchmark indices of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have together lost almost Rmb3.6tn ($519bn) in market capitalisation since April 18, when China reported annual quarterly growth of 4.5 per cent. The market value of companies included in the Nasdaq Golden Dragon index, which tracks China’s top New York-listed tech groups, has also dropped by more than $31bn.
The sell-off reflects uncertainty on the outlook for China’s economy and apprehension that the economic recovery from years of Beijing’s disruptive zero-Covid policy could falter in the coming months — even though the headline number reported by Beijing, in its first full quarter since authorities ended the zero-Covid approach, exceeded most forecasts.