For subscribers

China’s stock market jitters are hurting the middle class

At stake is investor confidence and the Chinese government’s credibility.

Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments

FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians wait to cross a road at a junction near a giant display of stock indexes in Shanghai, China August 3, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

The recent slump will hurt the Chinese middle class most rather than foreign investors, who have limited access to mainland stocks.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Chen Gang

Follow topic:

China posted

an above-the-target GDP growth of 5.2 per cent in 2023,

a figure revealed by Vice-Premier Li Qiang just weeks ago in a move to boost investor sentiment amid a flagging economy.

Yet its stock market, the world’s second largest, continues to crumble. About US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) of its value was wiped off in just two weeks in January. Some analysts have called Chinese equities “uninvestable”.

See more on