Investor sentiment around China at its best

KOTA KINABALU: Investor sentiment is now at its most bullish, according to findings of the newly released 2018 Standard Chartered RMB Investors Forum Survey.

Investors have stepped up their activity with 88 per cent of respondents investing in China, up from 69 per cent in 2017 and with 76 per cent of them planning to grow their China investments, up from 69 per cent in 2017.

A key finding from this year’s survey is that investment into China is now fully globalised.

North America emerged as one of the most positive regions with 88 per cent of respondents investing in China and 87 per cent looking to increase their participation.

Singapore also scored highly with 91 per cent currently investing and almost all expecting to increase their investments over the next 12 months.

Clarity on rules from regulators remains one of the priority issues, with 45 per cent of respondents saying it is the one of the most important investment factor.

It is however now one of three concerns that rank fairly evenly along with funding flexibility (44 per cent) and speed and simplicity of application and/or account opening (41 per cent).

The survey gives clear evidence that concerns move away from the rulebook and towards more practical considerations around operations and usability of the various investment channels.

Commenting on the survey findings, Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head, Securities Services, Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered, said, “The headline finding is that sentiment towards China has never been better and never have more people invested in China than today.

“More importantly, the results of our survey show that China access is moving into a new era, one where concern over regulation, gives way to more practical considerations. The decision about whether to invest in China is no longer a question of if, but when.”

Illustrating the move towards practical considerations, findings from the survey showed that one of the reasons sentiment is so positive on investing in China is because of the simplicity, clarity and flexibility on the new access mechanisms such as Stock Connect and Bond Connect.