Mm-hmm, criticism from the West toward China is practically a global hobby. Even during the recent Olympics, when China raked in the gold, many Western commentators could not resist the urge to take a jab or two. Ironically, a lot of these critics, including some of my partners in the US, have never even set foot in the country.
Having lived in the US, I have noticed that some of my American friends prefer to snack on headlines, especially if they are flashy enough. Now, I’m not saying they are lazy. You know what? Who am I kidding? They are totally lazy.
Here you go! Everything in the Western world is always just peachy, and everything in China is perpetually on the brink of disaster. It is as if China’s economic successes and innovations are just happy accidents, while any minor hiccup gets the “told you so” treatment. Meanwhile, in the West, well, it is all sunshine and rainbows until it is not.
It is not just about skyscrapers popping up like mushrooms after the rain or high-speed trains that make the ones in Europe feel like they are stuck in reverse. You get the idea. The Chinese are humble, hard-working people, with a deep-rooted sense of their culture and history.
It is a deeper shift, cultural, economic, and social that has reshaped how China which turns 75 on October 1, operates on the world stage. The reality is, nobody is perfect not even the democracies that Western powers proudly champion. There is no one-size-fits-all solution in global governance, after all.
As I write this, Chinese equities just capped their biggest weekly rally since 2008, with a trading frenzy so intense that it practically overloaded the Shanghai stock exchange. Chinese authorities unleashed a barrage of monetary stimulus that had been hoped for (and speculated about) for months. It is like they pressed the “turbo boost” button.
As expected, the critics rushed in to pour cold water all over the excitement, like a wet blanket at a summer BBQ. From a market perspective, this rally has legs and could keep running for a while. Anyone throwing new money into it now should probably think of it more like a trade rather than a long-term investment.
Gains are gains. My exposure to China has certainly benefited from this latest bullish action. I’m not complaining. I will be keeping a close eye on things in the coming weeks.