What China’s Patriotic Stock Buying Tells Us About Its Economy (1/2)
The Communist Party uses a “national team” of state-owned
investment funds to stem the market rout. But this time, investors are not sure
it will work.
By Alexandra Stevenson and Murphy Zhao Reporting from Hong
Kong
Oct. 27, 2026
As investor pessimism pushed China’s stock market into a
bear market last week, officials responded as they often do, deploying a group
of state-owned funds to arrest the slide.
The group of Beijing-backed investment companies, known
colloquially as the “national team,” pumped $6.8 billion into stocks in a
single session last Thursday, providing a temporary reprieve to a market that
had fallen for 11 straight weeks.
Mainland stocks are down more than 20 percent from a recent
peak — the threshold for a bear market.
But this time, investors are signaling that the old playbook
may not be enough. By Tuesday, markets fell again, declining 1.3 percent.
Stocks in China are among the worst performers in Asia this year, along with
Indonesia and India.
The intervention may have helped to “prop up the market,”
said Shi Shusi, a financial commentator with 2.6 million followers on Chinese
social media. But, he added, “it couldn’t prop up investors’ confidence.”
The effort to stabilize stocks came just days before Xi
Jinping, China’s leader, convened one of the country’s most important political
meetings of the year. Hundreds of the Communist Party’s most senior officials
are meeting to set the government agenda. While economic policy has
traditionally been a priority at such gatherings, many observers expect it to
take a back seat to politics this year.
The market sell-off reflects a deeper unease about China’s
economy and growing doubts about whether policymakers are doing enough to turn
things around. China’s manufacturing juggernaut has powered a surge in exports,
sustaining economic growth and helping Beijing meet its targets.
But that strength has obscured persistent weakness at home.
Wage growth is slowing. Companies are struggling to raise
prices. And households, whose savings are largely tied up in real estate,
continue to see their wealth eroded by falling home prices.
“If the government keeps pumping money in, we will see
short-term gains, but this will not continue,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist
for Asia Pacific with Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, referring to
the national team, which also intervened in July to steady the market.
“The government will try to set a floor here, but whether
there could be a strong momentum for rebound will take a lot more than what we
see right now,” he added.
(to be continued)
Translation
中國愛國主義買盤揭示中國經濟的哪些訊息(1/2)
中國共產黨動用「國家隊」國有投資基金來遏制市場暴跌。但這一次,投資者並不確定這是否有效
上週,投資人悲觀將中國股市推入熊市,官方一如既往地出手,部署了一批國有基金來止跌。
這批由北京支持的投資公司,俗稱“國家隊”,在上週四的單日交易中向股市注入了68億美元,暫時緩解了連續11週下跌的市場頹勢。
中國大陸股市較近期高點下跌超過20%,已達到熊市的門檻。
但這一次,投資者表示,老一套的策略可能不再奏效。截至週二,市場再次下跌,跌幅達1.3%。今年以來,中國股市與印尼和印度股市一起,成為亞洲表現最差的股市之一。
擁有260萬中國社交媒體粉絲的財經評論員 Shi Shusi 表示,政府干預或許有助於「支撐市場」。但他補充說,「這無法提振投資者信心」。
就在幾天前,中國國家主席習近平召開了今年最重要的政治會議之一。數百名中共最高官員齊聚一堂,制定政府議程。儘管經濟政策歷來是此類會議的重點,但許多觀察家預計,今年經濟政策將退居次要地位,政治議題將成為焦點。
這場市場拋售反映出人們對中國經濟的擔憂日益加劇,並越來越懷疑決策者是否採取了足夠的措施來扭轉局面。中國製造業的強勁發展推動了出口激增,維持了經濟成長,並幫助北京實現了其目標。
但這種強勢掩蓋了國內持續疲軟的局面。
薪金成長放緩。企業難以提高價格。而家庭儲蓄大多集中在房地產上,房價下跌持續侵蝕他們的財富。
法國外貿銀行(Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking)亞太區高級經濟學家 Gary Ng 表示「如果政府繼續注入資金,我們會看到短期上漲,但這不會持續下去」。他指的是政府團隊,該團隊曾在7月出手幹預以穩定市場。
他補充道:「政府會試圖為市場設定底線,但能否出現強勁的反彈勢頭,需要比我們目前看到的更多因素」。
(待續)
