The Investor's Guide to China

The story of China's economy and stock market has long been one of rapid growth. But as policymakers pivot to focus on the quality - instead of the velocity - of growth, investors are turning their attention to something more long-lasting: shareholder returns. Dividends and buybacks are moving up the agenda of regulators and companies in China, generating interest for investors across the market, even in sectors of the so-called ‘old’ economy. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities for Asia Pacific, are joined by two of Fidelity International’s portfolio managers: Lynda Zhou and Dale Nicholls. Together, they explore a change in the mindset of Chinese management teams, which industries are most prepared to ramp up payouts for their shareholders, and the role of regulators and investors in the process. With additional contributions from Shanghai-based analyst Bunny Huang and Singapore-based Portfolio Manager Jochen Breuer. ReadTo read more on the rise of dividends in Asia, please visit fidelityinternational.com to find Lynda and Jochen’s recent article or click the following link: https://www.fidelityinternational.com/editorial/article/asian-stocks-enter-the-dividend-age-b65424-en5/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the venture capital firm Eight Roads, Fidelity’s sister company. What role do migrants play in the past, present, and future development of the Chinese economy? Which Chinese provinces and cities could be home to the next unicorn? What do emerging migration patterns mean for China's cities and their businesses? And what does all of it mean for property markets? With additional contributions from Portfolio Manager Hyomi Jie and Shanghai-based analysts Eric Zhu and Fiona Shou. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, Alvin Cheng, from our independently run mutual fund business in China, join Catherine and Marty to discuss why the same economic narrative about China is playing out so differently in equities and bonds, and where investors should start their search for opportunities in this vast market. With additional contributions from Singapore-based Multi-Asset Portfolio Manager George Efstathopoulos and Shanghai-based Senior Credit Analyst Crystal Cui. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 dominates their production and processing, which in turn makes the country indispensable to a successful and sustainable transition. Catherine and Marty are joined by Analyst and Portfolio Manager, James Richards, from London and Shanghai-based Director of Research for Equities in China, Monica Li, to discuss what investors can do to share in this boom and prepare their portfolios for a greener future. With additional contributions from Hong Kong-based Analyst and Portfolio Manager Karen Zhou and Shanghai-based Sustainable Investing Analyst Binyu Zhao. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 additional contribution from Portfolio Manager Tina Tian. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by Miyuki Kashima, Head of Investments, Japan, and Eric Nie, Co-Head of Investments, China, to talk through the lessons learned from Japan’s economic journey and what’s going on in China today. With additional contributions from Ying Lu, Analyst & Portfolio Manager, and Reggie Pan, Investment Analyst. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 increase the use of the renminbi in international markets with the hope that someday it could challenge the dollar as a major reserve currency. This comes despite China's capital account remaining mostly closed and the renminbi not being freely convertible, and also despite the dollar's current dominance as the world's go to safe haven asset. In July’s episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, ask Portfolio Manager, Morgan Lau, and Asia Economist, Peiqian Liu, how far can de-dollarisation go? Could it disrupt how companies or countries pay for imports and exports? Or even how the US funds itself as the world's biggest debtor nation? With additional contributions from Amit Goel, Portfolio Manager, Monica Li, Director of Research, and Shing Zhu, Investment Analyst. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 get their on-the-ground insights, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined in this episode by portfolio managers Dale Nicholls and Hyomi Jie. With additional contributions from Eric Zhu, Research Associate, and Eric Tse, Investment Analyst. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 some people, it looked like fighting climate change took a back seat as priorities shifted towards energy security and economic stability. Coming back to 2023: China is still the biggest greenhouse gas emitter. But has the country slipped on its path to decarbonisation? Or is progress indeed moving ahead? In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by Flora Wang, Portfolio Manager & Head of Stewardship, Asia, and Dhananjay Phadnis, Portfolio Manager. With additional contributions from Senan Yuen, Head of Investments, China, Bunny Huang, Investment Analyst, and James Richards, Senior Industry Analyst. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Terence Tsai, Analyst and Portfolio Manager, and Tina Tian, Portfolio Manager, as they discuss China's evolving role in the global tech hardware supply chain, the effects of the ‘Chip War’ with US, and what it all means for the economy and investors. With additional contributions from Miya Huang, Innovation Intelligence Lead in Dalian; Zaf Tiu, Research Associate in Singapore; Chandrasekhar Sridhar, Analyst & NDA in Mumbai; Vivian Pai, Fund Manager, Taipei; Jonathan Tseng, Equity Research Analyst, London; and Vivian Wang, Investment Analyst in Hong Kong.   Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 looks different today than it did even just a few years ago, before the pandemic. The US-China trade war has prompted companies everywhere to hedge geopolitical risks by diversifying their manufacturing into other markets and shortening their supply chains. The slow burn demographic challenge is also pushing up manufacturing costs. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by Evelyn Huang, Multi Asset Portfolio Manager, and Lynda Zhou, Equity Portfolio Manager, to discuss China's rapid reopening and what it means for the country's growth outlook, for its manufacturing competitiveness, and for investors looking to position themselves for the next phase. With additional contributions from James Trafford, Analyst and Portfolio Manager. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 to Fidelity Answers.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 announcements about the world's biggest investment companies, Fidelity International included, moving deeper into China's onshore market, either by setting up wholly-owned local subsidiaries or, for instance, many global banks who have been taking control of their existing joint ventures. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by Jing Ning, a senior advisor for China equities, and Alvin Cheng, Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, to discuss how China’s local markets and its onshore investment industry are opening, expanding, and ever evolving. With additional contributions from Helen Huang, Managing Director, China, Senan Yuen, Head of Investment, China, and Lily Cong, Chief Representative, Beijing Representative Office. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 creating challenges for manufacturers. Moreover, monetary policy is diverging between China and the rest of the world, not to mention Covid-related restrictions where domestic consumers are changing their spending patterns as the rest of Asia eyes China's reopening. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by Morgan Lau, Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, and Monica Li, Director of Research, Equities. With additional contributions from Victoria Mio, Head of Equity Research, Asia Pacific, and Ben Li, Analyst & Portfolio Manager. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So much of the investment conversation is dominated by companies that have already gone public. But it's not always just about listed companies. Investors in private assets, particularly in equities, for many years have considered Asia and especially China as one of the most exciting markets anywhere. And while there have been challenges and setbacks along the way, the private asset space in Asia and China continues to develop at a really impressive pace. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by Jarlon Tsang, Managing Partner & Head of China at Eight Roads, and Jackie Chien, Director of Capital Markets. With additional contributions from portfolio managers Vivian Liu and Dale Nicholls. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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To many outsiders, Chinese equity investing might conjure up images of a huge momentum-fuelled market where investors revel in speculation and sustainability is an alien concept. But developments on the ground in China show how stereotypes like this are swiftly becoming outdated. The country's markets have been changing shape over the last decade as institutional influence expands in the onshore market and foreign investors increase their exposure. A growing awareness of ESG has followed close behind. In this episode, Catherine Yeung, Investment Director, and Marty Dropkin, Head of Equities, Asia Pacific, are joined by two of Fidelity’s sustainable investment team: Director of Sustainable Investing & Portfolio Manager Flora Wang and Global Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investing Jenn-Hui Tan. With additional contributions from Richard Edgar, Editor-in-Chief, Eric Zhu, Consumer Staples Analyst, and Binyu Zhao, Sustainable Investing Associate. Read more at fidelityinternational.com  ------- 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.

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 Analyst & Portfolio Manager Yuanlin Lang and Senior Credit Analyst & Portfolio Manager Ming Gong to find out how the three key sectors of healthcare, education, and housing - commonly referred to in China as the 'three mountains' because they represent the rising burden of the cost of living for many households - are adjusting. With additional contributions from David Hoidal, CEO of the Shanghai-based hospital operator DeltaHealth, and Tina Tian, Equity Portfolio Manager at Fidelity.  Read more at fidelityinternational.com ------------------- 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/surveySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 & Hong Kong Investments, are joined by Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Belinda Liao and Equity Analyst & Portfolio Manager Terence Tsai to discuss how China is navigating through these supply chain disruptions. With additional contributions from Charvi Pandey, Equity Analyst, and Ben Li, Equity Analyst & Portfolio Manager. Read more at fidelityinternational.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.