Chinese equity markets lagged global peers in 2023 and have had a difficult start to 2024. Anticipation for a sustained recovery following the removal of pandemic related restrictions proved short-lived, as pent-up demand was unable to offset property sector worries and softer consumer sentiment.
As the world’s second largest economy, China matters to global growth and the country achieved an upside of 5.2% GDP in 2023, exceeding the target of 5%, according to official figures. The influence is amplified for emerging market EM investors, where Chinese equities account for a third of the major indices. For active fund managers, over or underweighting country allocation as large as China’s directly...