Where people live within China - and why - is fundamental to understanding the country’s changing demographics. That, in turn, has important implications for the Chinese economy, consumption trends, and where investors should be looking. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, take you across China through the lens of Fidelity International’s Asia Economist, Peiqian Liu, and Jarlon Tsang, Managing Partner and Head of China at...

In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, tackle a topic that often flies under the radar, but could in fact hold great potential for investors: China’s bond market. Investors focused on the stock market, and the challenges Chinese property developers are facing, have often overlooked China’s bonds, which have boasted some of the best returns over the past few years. Hong Kong-based Head of Asian Fixed Income, Lei Zhu, and...

In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, explore the critical role of transition materials — minerals and elements, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, that are essential to developing and deploying clean energy technologies. Demand for these materials around the world continues to grow so securing a reliable supply of them is a priority for countries trying to get to net zero. China has many of them in abundance and it...

In this special edition of The Investor’s Guide to China, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, is joined in Hong Kong by Louis-Vincent Gave, the founder and CEO of Gavekal, a leading independent provider of global investment research. They tackle questions from the development of China’s AI landscape and what it means for the country’s youth unemployment, to what the stellar performance of the Chinese bond market means for the country, and the internationalisation of the renminbi. With an...

When you look at some of the big economic issues China is dealing with today—lacklustre growth, a real estate slump, price disinflation, or an ageing population—you quickly realise Japan has been through a lot of the same challenges. What can we learn from Japan’s experiences? Is there a policy playbook there for how to respond to similar economic pressures for China, or indeed, any other country confronting these challenges? In October’s episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and...

When it comes to currencies, it often feels like it's all about the US dollar. Although the greenback has dominated international trade and finance for decades, some subtle shifts have started playing out among the currencies of major economies. Rising geopolitical tensions and the changing structure of global trade are prompting some countries to rethink and scale back their reliance on the dollar, a process now referred to as ‘de-dollarisation’. At the same time, China has been pushing to...

China’s economic rebound hasn’t been as strong as many anticipated. But then, it’s not that surprising, as no one was expecting any major stimulus like in previous cycles, such as the global financial crisis. However, the Chinese consumer was really the one that was expected to underpin and power this recovery.  At the beginning of June, Fidelity’s global investment team embarked on a research trip to Shanghai and Hefei in eastern Anhui province where they met with dozens of companies. To...

2021 was a big year for the global fight against climate change. China's president, Xi Jinping, again pledged that China would hit peak emissions by 2030 and be net zero by 2060. Then at COP26 in Glasgow, over 100 countries pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate deforestation. But that appeared to come to a screeching halt when the world was hit by the triple blow of Omicron spreading globally, the war in Ukraine breaking out, and the Fed starting to hike interest rates. For...

Chip shortages at the start of the Covid pandemic threw semiconductors into the limelight. More recently, chips have been the focus of trade tensions between China and the US. Now, as China reopens and supply chains adjust, how will the ‘Chip War’ affect the future of the global tech hardware industry, and ultimately the prices of thousands of types of consumer goods?  In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by...

After three years, China has dropped its zero-Covid policy, and 2023 has brought a sharp rebound in activity. Road traffic, hotel bookings and many other indicators are approaching or even exceeding their 2019 levels. It's clearly good news for the economy but what does China’s reopening mean for regional and global supply chains? In the short term, Covid infections have been disrupting manufacturing as well as logistics networks but there are also some longer-term forces at play. The world...

Tune in for a new series that gets under the bonnet of business and sustainability. From finance to energy to agriculture, how do business leaders balance the needs of all stakeholders and what are the trade offs they have to make in the process? Ned Salter, Global Head of Investment Research at Fidelity International, interviews chief executives in critical sectors about the difficult decisions they face when it comes to ESG. Episode One with Bank of America's Brian Moynihan coming soon...

China's economy and its markets have faced a number of headwinds in 2022. Slowing growth, geopolitical uncertainty, the impact of the country's Covid policy, and how the PBOC, or the Chinese central bank, is manoeuvring how they ease monetary and fiscal policy as most other global banks move in a more hawkish direction. But despite all that, the opening up of China's onshore financial markets has been kicking into high gear throughout this same period. In fact, we've seen a drumbeat of...

Chinese equities markets have been volatile in the wake of last month’s Communist Party Congress in Beijing, where the country's leadership line up for the next five years was revealed. Investors have been looking for signs or signals in terms of what's going to happen as we enter a new phase of the Chinese growth story under President Xi Jinping's leadership. Against an evolving backdrop of signature policies like common prosperity and dual circulation, China is seeing weak external demand...

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Help us make podcasts that give you, our listeners, what you want. Take this short survey and we'll enter you in to a prize draw for £250 of Amazon vouchers or the equivalent donation to a charity of your choice. Entries close September 10th. Go on, click on the link - we really want to hear what you have to say. fidelityinternational.com/survey   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The phrase "common prosperity" has certainly been getting a lot of air time recently, both domestically in China as well as around the world. Investors have come to know this campaign through a series of tighter regulations across a number of industries within China. But what does it really mean for companies and investors, or even the broader economy?   Hosts Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Asian Fixed Income & Hong Kong Investments, are joined by Equity...

Now over two years into this pandemic and the world is still battling some serious supply chain disruptions - all the more so, of course, with the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, plus Covid-related lockdowns in China. How are companies reacting to the constant stream of disruptions and what are they doing to help mitigate risk? What should China investors be wary of and where are the opportunities? Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Asian Fixed Income...

A lot of the financial headlines we’re seeing about China lately involve debt of one form or another. It could be a real estate company that borrowed too much and got into trouble or a new macro policy aiming to rein in leverage in the banking system. But it’s important to differentiate between bad debt and good debt. While companies going bust may be newsworthy, this can also help in reducing so called ‘moral hazard’ if it results in credit risk being priced better by investors. While...

China’s labour pool is shrinking as the population ages and more people retire than enter the workforce. How people save and invest as they think about wealth preservation signals big challenges and opportunities for China’s pension system development. So, how will government policy seek to ensure that the corporate sector remains dynamic and innovative, and can keep attracting the talent it needs? What sectors stand to benefit as a very different, younger generation increases its purchasing...

Regulation in China is nothing new. But anyone observing the financial headlines in recent years, and certainly over recent months, will have noted a real pick up in regulatory activity that has affected some of China’s biggest and most dynamic companies. So, how should investors think about this regulatory new normal? Which sectors align with the country’s new strategic goals and ultimately stand to benefit? And how is all of this likely to impact the quality and quantity of economic growth...

China's role in global affairs is more important - and more complex - than ever. From geopolitics and economics to the battle against climate change, the country's participation in global issues presents investors with opportunities but also requires unwavering attention. Central to any analysis must be an understanding of how China hopes to portray itself and why the country seeks certain roles on the world stage. To discuss China's place in the world, Paras Anand, Global Chief Investment...