Focus on long-term strength

I never like commenting on stocks in a weekly column. But since the Chinese-language business press is inundated by negative comments about the domestic stock market, and many of them wrong, I must state my views.

Many investors are unhappy. The Shanghai Composite Index, the main stock index for the Chinese mainland market, has remained at nine-month low the past week.

For retirees and housewives who withdrew their personal savings in mid-2007 to invest in mutual funds, the loss has been enormous - the market lost more than 40 percent of its value as measured by the Shanghai index.