Making bearish bets on China remains a losing proposition
US writer Gordon Chang only made himself a laughing stock with his 2001 book The Coming Collapse of China, but international hedge fund managers who have bet against China's economy are losing their pants.
In 2017 alone, bearish investors who "shorted" Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland suffered losses of more than $35 billion, almost half their total stake, the Financial Times reported earlier this week, citing New York-based data provider S3 Partners. That has led to some of those China bears shutting their funds, many of which were set up following the 2008-09 global financial crisis that exposed the weaknesses in Western economies.
Throughout China's rise over the past four decades, there has never been a lack of doomsayers uttering dire warnings about the country's economic and political future. Yet their pessimistic forecasts have never accorded with reality.
