~businessinsider | Bookmarks (12)

The cancellation of the annual Chinese premier press conference signals increased opacity and control from Xi Jinping's regime.

China has curbed short selling and quant trading activities to support its flailing stock markets, but the moves could dampen investor appetite.

Ppending is likely to slow after Chinese New Year, signaling more bad news for Beijing when what it really needs is a break.

China replaced its top markets regulator late on Wednesday following news Xi was to meet with the agency amid a deep market rout.

China reported GDP growth of 5.2% in 2023. But, it has been in "a running battle to roll out extraordinary support measures," said the Rhodium Group.

China vowed to crack down on short-selling and insider trading, attract investment from longer-term funds, and listen to investors earnestly.

In January alone, Chinese authorities pulled about a dozen moves to stabilize a stock market rout and support downbeat property market demand.

Analysts' earnings estimates for companies represented by the MSCI China Index members are down nearly 1% since the start of 2024, per Bloomberg data.

"There has been increasing confusion over Beijing's policy stance on the economy," wrote Nomura economists in a Monday note seen by Business Insider.

Over 80% of respondents to a World Economic Forum survey said they're expecting heightened economic and stock-market volatility in 2024.

Foreign funds bought 44 billion Chinese yuan of mainland stocks via stock connect programs with Hong Kong — the lowest ever, per Bloomberg.

Chinese policymakers have the ability to engineer stronger growth, but that may worsen the structural issues that have hampered the economy.