A Few Reasons to Buy China ETFs Now

Concerns over China’s economic challenges remain rife as the year 2024 reaches its final three months. In recent years, investing in Chinese stocks has proven extremely challenging for bullish investors. Government policies perceived as anti-growth, crackdown on several sectors, strict COVID-19 measures, weak GDP growth, high unemployment and a crisis in the real estate sector have contributed to a market lull.

The struggling real estate sector has posed the main challenge to China's economy. Evergrande, previously the top real estate company globally, fell apart during the crisis in the Chinese property market. However, things seem to be changing for the better.

China Unveils Major Monetary Stimulus

On Sept. 24, 2024, China's central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), has announced a broad range of monetary stimulus measures aimed at boosting the world's second-largest economy. This move indicates growing concern within Xi Jinping's administration over the nation’s slowing growth and declining investor confidence.

Bloomberg Economics believes that the stimulus is expected to provide a modest boost to growth, estimated at around 0.2 percentage points in 2024, with most of the impact expected in 2025. China exchange-traded funds or ETFs like KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF KTEC, Global X MSCI China Consumer Discretionary ETF CHIQ, iShares China Large-Cap ETF FXI, and Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF PGJ have gained in the range of 3% to 1% in the past one month (as of Sept. 23, 2024).

Mixed Market Response

Following the latest policy easing announcements, China’s benchmark CSI 300 Index rose by as much as 4%, nearly reversing its losses for the year. Meanwhile, commodity markets rallied, and the yuan remained stable against the U.S. dollar. Yields on China’s 10-year bonds also rose slightly.

Key Measures Announced

PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng introduced a reduction in a key short-term interest rate and revealed plans to slash the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks to its lowest level since 2018. Notably, this is the first time since at least 2015 that reductions to both rates have been announced on the same day, per Bloomberg, as published on Yahoo Finance.

The central bank also introduced a series of other policies, including measures to support China’s struggling property sector. These include lowering borrowing costs on up to $5.3 trillion in mortgages and relaxing rules on second-home purchases.

Boosting Liquidity in China’s Stock Market

Pan also committed to providing at least 800 billion yuan ($113 billion) in liquidity support to China’s stock market. He indicated that authorities are studying the possibility of establishing a market stabilization fund, hinting at the government’s intent to restore confidence in its equities market, which has been wavering for quite some time now.

Some Billionaire Investors Betting Big on China

Despite the prevalent downbeat sentiment, not everyone shares a gloomy outlook on China’s future. Ted Alexander, CIO of BML Funds, expressed optimism on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia,” highlighting China’s potential for innovation, as quoted on CNBC. He believes that further economic downturns are unlikely.

Some high-profile investors have maintained their confidence in China. Billionaire investors David Tepper and Michael Burry continue to hold significant positions in Chinese companies, per the CNBC article. Tepper, the founder of Appaloosa Management, still has Alibaba BABA as his top holding, despite slightly reducing his stake (read: Time to Buy China ETFs Following Billionaire Investors?).

Any Wall of Worry?

Despite several efforts to boost Chinese economy and equities, doubts persist over whether these policies will be sufficient to counter China’s longer-term economic challenges, including persistent deflationary pressures and the ongoing real estate crisis. some analysts believe that more measures are still needed.

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