Stock market

Regulators are ramping up efforts to cull poorly performing firms and those that violate the rules or break the law. A record number of companies got the boot from Chinese mainland stock exchanges last year, and that number could even double in 2023.

UOB Asset Management (UOBAM)’s Ping An ChiNext Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) offers investors in Singapore access to long-term opportunities in the Chinese market. The recently launched ETF invests in a wide range of fast-growing and innovative companies across multiple sectors, helping investors build a portfolio that could benefit from the structural tailwinds ahead. UOBAM explains why this is the right time to invest in China and the UOBAM Ping An ChiNext ETF.

China’s stock markets rose following an unverified tweet on 1 November claiming China might ease its zero-Covid policy. However, signals from state media and various local governments suggest otherwise and the market rally has died down as well. Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong examines the clues and analyses what might happen next.

In a preliminary agreement, US officials will get their long-sought access to vet accounting companies based in mainland China and Hong Kong and review audit documents related to Chinese businesses. Will this stem the tide of Chinese companies being delisted from US stock exchanges?

China-US cooperation in the finance sector is making headway after the announcement of the recent signing of an audit oversight cooperation agreement. While the general public opinion in China bears optimism for this development, some are still wary of the risks to national security. Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan looks into the implications of the agreement.

In the wake of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan and the mainland’s retaliatory actions in the Taiwan Strait, researcher Wei Da believes that China-US rivalry has transformed in three ways: political confrontation is becoming more ideological and acute; military confrontation is becoming more symbolic; and further decoupling of major economic and trade initiatives may reach a critical point.

US and Chinese regulators have been ramping up talks to resolve the longstanding audit dispute under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA). In the meantime, will US-listed Chinese companies flock to Hong Kong? Is the city able to offer a profitable haven for investors?

Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan notes that the announcement of Chinese SOEs’ planned exit from the US market is a result of the intensifying China-US rivalry, and a sign of economic and financial decoupling. However, the exit might be just the beginning — there may be more Chinese companies pulling out of the US market in future.

Economics professor Zhang Rui believes that Japan’s massive hoard of overseas assets, along with its ultra-loose monetary policy, has allowed its domestic economy to thrive even amid a weakening currency. In addition, the government’s fiscal policies have also made it easy for Japanese investors to venture overseas, adding to Japan’s financial prowess.