Gaz

China Stocks: Risks Ahead

Chinese companies sole reason to be publicly listed is to get something for nothing. Most listed companies I have looked at in China over my 4 years of being here are not actually making profit in real life, only on their stocks. They hide the truth and invariably have government officials investing prior to listing which shields them from any laws that might exist. Many of them raise funds and act basically as shell companies feeding the money through to some other new venture or personal fund with no ties to the stock whatsoever, all with government officials on the payroll if they aren't the coordinators themselves.

I've been here 4 years, speak the language, deal daily with listed companies and their staff, and I would NEVER invest in any Chinese stocks and it is clear to me that anyone who invests in ANY Mainland Chinese stocks usually has the false belief that trading is governed by laws. If you've invested in Chinese stocks, well, personally if that money was important to me I'd cut my losses or bubble gains right away before I lost all of it.

Inflation in China: We'll Do Anything to Kill It, Except Threaten Employment

Firstly, inflation in China is a hell of a lot higher than 4.8%, I've been here 4 years and in that time basic food items and clothing has risen 2x to 5x (for different items) IN THE LAST 2 YEARS!

Buying an apartment in Wuhan (central 2nd tier city) 2 years ago cost 2,000RMB/m2, today to buy an apartment in the same place costs 10,000RMB/m2. This is not some exception to the rule, this is happening across all 2nd level cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou etc are not affected so much by inflation).

Whoever has been calculating inflation rates for China is obviously sitting in some stalinist government building in Beijing shielded from real life.