The "2023 2nd Strategic Investment Opportunities Conference (Greater China Listed Companies)" was held at the Intercontinental Singapore Hotel on 4th July 2023.
The event was organised by China investor relations agency specialist Zhixin Caijing; in collaboration with UOB Kay Hian, Cap1 Financial, the ShareInvestor Group, and investor relations company Waterbrooks Consultants to cater to international investors’ rising interest in the China capital markets. It drew an enthusiastic response from investors many of whom were delighted with the unique insights shared by the speakers.
Investor-One Editor’s comments on the current China economic and financial markets environment
The current global economic and financial environment is fragile; beset with many challenges from inflation and the high interest rate environment, to geopolitical tensions, protectionist trade policies, the war in Ukraine and natural disasters caused by climate change. However, China-the world’s second largest economy-is relatively resilient due to its vast domestic markets, the innovation-driven spirit of its industries, and the Chinese government’s effective macroeconomic policies. Analysts often overlook the fact that China already leads the way in many critical technologies of the modern economy. In a report on 3 Mar 2023 Australian think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), states that China leads the world in 37 out of 44 such technologies. China is in a position to become the world’s top technology superpower, with its dominance already spanning defence, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials and key quantum technology. https://www.aspi.org.au/report/critical-technology-tracker . At the strategic level, the ‘sharing’ and application of this technological edge will filter down to spread itself throughout the economy and underpin the growth potential of its companies (and therefore its equity markets).
In the first quarter of 2023 China’s GDP grew by 4.5% year-on-year, an enviable growth rate for a developed economy. As a point of comparison, the economies of the other major developed economic blocs of Europe, Japan and the USA have a GDP growth rate of between 1-3.5%. The Chinese government has set a target growth rate of 5% for 2023 and history has shown that economic targets set by the government are more often than not achieved.
China is also accelerating the opening up of its capital markets, continuously improving the regulatory system, and facilitating both domestic and foreign investment. With the gradual internationalisation of the Renminbi, Chinese assets and listed companies are receiving increasing attention from international investors who do not want to miss out on profitable opportunities.
Another significant factor that makes China an attractive investment destination is that unlike the USA and Europe, China does not face any threats of inflation or high interest rates. Indeed, its economic cycle is the opposite of the current inflationary environment in the Western economies. China has room for fiscal, monetary and other stimulus, whether it is to boost domestic consumption, alleviate high level of youth unemployment, help turnaround the real estate sector, or dish out support measures for the millions of export-driven SMEs. The generally lower current valuations of China equities as compared with USA and Europe equities adds to its attractiveness. There are also more industries and companies that are still in the growth and development stage as compared with those in the USA and Europe.
The conference featured speeches by Mr Ye Tian, Associate Director, Equities & Financial Products UOB Kay Hian; Mr Ernie Hon, Managing Director Research, Essence International Securities (HK) Limited; and Mr Matthew Wong, Managing Director Group Head of Products UOB Kay Hian (HK) Limited.
In his opening speech Mr. Guo Xinlin, Chairman of Zhixin Finance, welcomed the participants and expressed his sincere heartfelt thanks to them for their support. He said that to counter the current protectionist trade and anti-globalisation trend, the Chinese government has actively promoted the internationalization of the RMB. China is also gradually opening up its financial markets, and the Stock Connect mechanisms such as Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Bond Connect and Swap Connect have been progressively improved. Zhixin Caijing will seize the opportunities presented by these developments and focus on introducing overseas RMB funds, continuously building up and strengthening its relationships with international investors and investor relations companies.
Subsequently, Mr. Ye Tian shared his review and analysis of the events that impacted global financial markets over the past three years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, the impact of high U.S. interest rates, the Credit Suisse AT1 bond default, the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, new developments in Artificial Intelligence such as Open AI’s ChatGPT. Despite these challenges, Singapore's private equity and hedge fund sectors have been growing due to its economic and political stability, business-friendly government, safe regulatory environment and high standards of governance. Mr. Ye stated that the objective of today’s conference is to provide a platform for exchange of investment insights and foster collaboration. He also has plans to make more onsite visits and do research on more China listed companies to create more opportunities for international investors.
Following this, Mr. Ernie Hon, Managing Director Research, of Essence International Securities (HK) Limited delivered a keynote speech titled “政策送暖 估值待修” for the Hong Kong market. He first gave an overview of Hong Kong stocks and shared insights on the different sectors and industries, their valuations, and their potential. Mr Hon then discussed how the flow of Northbound (Shanghai and Shenzhen) and Southbound (Hong Kong) funds affect the Hong Kong market. Lastly Mr Hon talked about the latest investment trends of international investors.
Next, Mr. Matthew Wong, Managing Director Group Head of Products of UOB Kay Hian (HK) Limited, gave a speech on structured financial products and their application in investing strategies.
After Mr. Wong's insightful speech, representatives from three listed companies in the Hong Kong and A-shares markets each took the stage to make a presentation on the investment merits of their respective companies.
Listed companies featured:
Below is the link to Zhixin Caijing’s Chinese language article on the event.
For original article, please visit: Zhixin’s 2023 Strategic Greater China Investment Opportunities Conference Draws Enthusiastic Response from Investment Community.- Investor-One