Gavekal Research
July 29, 2021
Investors in China’s offshore-listed stocks have suffered multiple regulatory shocks. But with both onshore and Hong Kong equities now suffering, the crackdown is hitting domestic investors. Thomas explains why this will likely change the calculus for China’s policymakers, and why regulators are now likely to adopt a more constructive tone.
Gavekal Research
July 28, 2021
Investor confidence in Evergrande Group, China’s second-largest property developer, has been pummeled in recent weeks. While Evergrande has managed to put out the latest round of fires, and a collapse is unlikely, Rosealea argues in this piece that market volatility for developers will probably continue as financial regulators keep on squeezing.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 27, 2021
The clock is ticking for China’s banks to restructure the wealth-management products they have long used to evade financial regulations. Progress has been slow, but regulators have signaled they will not extend the end-2021 deadline again. However, as Xiaoxi argues in this piece, regulators will end up having to grant banks plenty of exceptions.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 21, 2021
China’s surprising decision this month to cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios has upended the consensus on its policy trajectory and sown confusion in the market. In this piece, Wei explains the move was neither a panicked attempt to jump-start growth, nor a minor technical adjustment, but a pre-emptive start to a different kind of easing cycle.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 8, 2021
China’s State Council issued a statement calling for “using monetary policy tools, including cuts in the reserve requirement ratio” to reduce financing costs for enterprises. In this Quick Take, Wei explains why policymakers are trying to lower corporate borrowing costs without pushing down interbank rates.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 16, 2021
China’s credit growth is slowing as officials take advantage of stable economic conditions to tackle excess financing. In this report, Wei explains why the downward credit pressure should have little impact on overall economic growth, but will affect liquidity conditions for property developers and local government financing vehicles.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 12, 2021
To keep access to bond markets amid rising defaults, many of China’s financially stressed local governments are offering stronger support for their companies’ debts—making the implicit guarantee more explicit. This won’t stop all local government financing vehicles from defaulting, but it means the defaults may come from less obvious places.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 29, 2021
China is changing the way bank deposit rate ceilings are calculated, the first such change in five years. In this piece, Xiaoxi explains how the change, which will flatten bank deposit yield curves, has some of the same effects as a deposit rate cut: it will reduce cost pressures on banks and widen their margins, although not dramatically.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 1, 2021
China’s central bank responded to the renminbi’s continued appreciation by raising the foreign-currency reserve requirement ratio from 5% to 7% effective June 15, the first change since 2007. Wei explains why this policy shift makes it clear that officials are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the renminbi’s trade-weighted exchange rate.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 26, 2021
Policymakers launched a massive crackdown against Chinese education companies over the weekend that will likely mean the end of these companies as they are currently structured. In doing so, Ernan writes that China has signaled it is not afraid to simply shut down a large and profitable industry in order to achieve its social and political goals.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 14, 2021
With the dramatic punishment of ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing immediately after its IPO, China’s government has opened a new front in its regulatory crackdown on internet companies: data security. In this piece, Ernan explains why regulators are escalating and what these new concerns mean for Chinese internet platforms.
Gavekal Research
July 5, 2021
Just two days after raising US$4.4bn from US investors, China’s largest ride-hailing platform, Didi Chuxing, has been placed under investigation by Chinese authorities and told to stop registering new users due to alleged violations in the handling of users’ data.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 6, 2021
After two years of silence, the Chinese government has signaled it is making a new effort to implement a residential property tax by expanding local trials. In this report, Rosealea explains why, against a better economic backdrop and with less organized opposition, the property tax is likely to stick this time around.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 23, 2021
How achievable are China’s targets of reaching peak carbon emissions before 2030 and a fully carbon-neutral economy by 2060? Rosealea writes that the unusually large share of heavy industry in China’s CO2 emissions will make the 2030 target difficult to achieve, while carbon neutrality will require a massive reorientation of China’s economy.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 7, 2021
China’s 2020 census revealed that urbanization has been faster over the past decade than official statistics showed. That means the fundamentals for housing demand are stronger than most had realized. As Rosealea argues in this piece, the census should drive an upward reassessment of long-term trends in China’s urbanization and commodity demand.
Gavekal Research
June 8, 2021
After officials moved against crypto-currency and commodity speculation a few weeks ago, investors jumped back into equities, perking up a market that had been moribund since March. However, on balance, this looks like a counter-trend rally that should ultimately be faded, as the corporate profit cycle is starting to roll over.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 29, 2021
The size of China’s equity mutual-fund industry has doubled over the past year, a sharp rise driven by policy shifts and strong performance. While fund performance and fundraising has suffered in 2021, Thomas argues that mutual funds can still help increase the role of institutional investors in China’s volatile, retail-dominated equity markets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
February 25, 2021
The writing is on the wall for China’s post-Covid bull market as the underlying credit and profit cycles that typically drive prices over the medium term are turning down in 2021. In this report, Thomas explains why liquidity flows can trump these fundamentals for a while, but not indefinitely.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 24, 2021
One of the most dramatic shifts within the global consumer market since Covid-19 has been the sudden termination of Chinese overseas tourism. In this report, Ernan explains why Chinese tourists will likely decide to remain grounded even as other countries open their doors, leaving households with extra money to deploy at home.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 25, 2021
China’s Covid-19 vaccination program has significantly accelerated in May, bringing it on track to reach its target of administering at least one dose to 40% of the population by end-June. In this report, Ernan explains why this achievement does not mean the country will be opening its borders or removing domestic precautions this year.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 7, 2021
The number of tourists over China’s five-day Labor Day holiday recovered to 3.2% above 2019 levels, according to the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, although tourism revenue was still 23% below 2019. In this Quick Take, Ernan outlines explains what renewed confidence in domestic travel means for China’s services recovery.
Gavekal Research
June 17, 2021
US policy on China is now defined by an acute tension between national security and business interests. In this report, Arthur and Dan explain how the Biden administration is navigating this tension, one which will be a permanent feature of the global landscape over the next decade.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 3, 2021
The US government’s criticism of China’s treatment of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, and China’s government’s tough response, is a very public test case for multinationals with China operations. They don’t want to take sides. But as Dan explains in this piece, foreign companies will, if forced to choose, move closer to the US position.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 7, 2021
With the hardening of the US-China strategic rivalry and technology’s central role in that rivalry, the possibility of a war over Taiwan is one which must be considered. In this report, Arthur explains the importance of the island to both countries and concludes that while the risk of war remains low, it is likely to rise in the next several years.
Gavekal Research
July 23, 2021
The reflation trade has ebbed in recent weeks as investors have gotten more comfortable with the trajectory of US monetary policy and concerns have risen over the Delta variant of Covid disrupting economic opening. At the same time, China continues to crack down on its high-growth internet sector.
Gavekal Research
July 16, 2021
China's authorities have aggressively tightened regulation of the formerly free-wheeling internet sector.
Gavekal Research
July 9, 2021
China is entering the second half of 2021 with its strong post-Covid economic momentum still intact, despite policymakers staying consistently hawkish on debt and property.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 23, 2021
China's post-Covid boom peaked in H1 and the beginnings of a slowdown are now obvious. Although growth momentum is still quite solid, policymakers have moved pre-emptively to start a monetary easing cycle. In the latest edition of our regular chartbook, the Dragonomics team explains the outlook for the economy and markets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 27, 2021
China’s companies are enjoying a historic boom as domestic and global demand bounces back from the shock of Covid-19. But how long will it last, and what will the longer-term effects be? In this annual chartbook, Thomas lays out the fundamentals of China’s corporate sector through a detailed examination of income statements and balance sheets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 22, 2021
China’s post-Covid recovery continues, but Q1 should be the peak of the cycle. The strength of the rebound has given policymakers confidence to focus on longer-term issues; the result is a multi-dimensional tightening of policy. In the latest edition of our regular chartbook, the Dragonomics team explains the outlook for the economy and markets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 30, 2021
The expansion and opening of China’s onshore renminbi bond market is one of the biggest changes to the structure of global financial markets in recent years, one that investors are still grappling with. In this comprehensive 30-page DeepChina report, our analysts present a guide to the nature and functioning of this important market.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 20, 2021
China is using the best-funded industrial policy in history to engineer greater self-reliance in semiconductors. Ambition and a big checkbook, however, do not guarantee success. In this DeepChina report, Dan argues that Chinese chip firms will increase their market share in some segments, but will not make it to the technological frontier.
Gavekal Dragonomics
Rogier Creemers
December 10, 2020
China’s social credit system is widely misunderstood as a totalitarian tool. The reality is that it is a relatively low-tech part of a sophisticated Communist Party strategy to use digital means to deliver both better governance and social control. In this 22-page DeepChina report, Rogier Creemers explains the truth behind the social credit myths.