Shuli Ren, Columnist

How Xi Jinping Can Make China’s Markets Investable Again

The president stacked his inner circle with loyalists, spooking international investors who swiftly dumped the nation’s assets.

October 25, 2022 at 7:00 PM UTC

By Shuli Ren

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barron’s. She is a CFA charterholder.

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The question of China’s “investability” first came up late last year when Beijing’s harsh regulatory crackdowns on big tech and real estate companies wiped trillions of dollars off foreign investors’ books. The answer seems sealed after President Xi Jinping outmanoeuvred rival political fractions to pack China’s top leadership with his long-time aides at the Communist Party’s Congress last weekend.

Financial markets sent an unequivocal message. US-listed Chinese stocks crumbled Monday, posting their biggest drop on record. The offshore yuan sank to the lowest since the unit started trading in 2010. Equities remained jittery Tuesday. This rout occurred despite China releasing better-than-expected third-quarter gross domestic product figures.