China’s Big Policy Meet Offers Little to Excite Commodity Bulls
- Growth target of 5% will likely require more state spending
- Congress entrenches coal’s role as a reliable power source
An open-pit coal mine in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.
Photographer: Wang Zheng/VCG/Getty Images
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China’s highest profile political event of the year provided little cheer for commodities bulls hoping for a jolt to demand in the world’s biggest market for raw materials.
The National People’s Congress, an annual gathering of China’s parliament in Beijing which concludes Monday, failed to deliver gains in the prices of key commodities like iron ore and copper — evidence of a mismatch between Beijing’s ambitious goal for growth and the market’s lack of conviction in the plan to get there.