Investors should avoid reading international press coverage of China’s economy, a top Chinese securities regulator told a summit of global bankers on Wednesday in comments that received endorsement from two senior executives.
The advice was made by Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a pre-recorded interview that was broadcast to a summit being held in Hong Kong.
“I deal with international investors quite a lot in my daily work and I am afraid some of them have read too much the international media reports about events in China,” he said.
“A lot of media reports, let me put it this way, they really don’t understand China very well and they have a short term focus… Don’t read too much of international media,” he added.
Hong Kong is hosting a week of high-profile events after years of political unrest and pandemic travel curbs tarnished the city’s business-friendly reputation, sparked an exodus of talent and battered its economy.
Senior executives from banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Blackrock, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, HSBC and Standard Chartered are among those attending.
In a later panel discussion UBS chairman Colm Kelleher backed Fang’s comments.
“Like Vice Chairman Fang said we’re not reading the American press, we all buy the story,” he said.
Kelleher added that international bankers were “very pro-China” and watching closely as to whether the world’s second largest economy would re-open.
Liu Jin, president of Bank of China, also referenced Fang’s remarks in comments about China’s deeply indebted property market.
“Don’t worry too much. As Mr Fang said, don’t read too much negative reports,” he told delegates.
China is the last major economy committed to a zero-Covid strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines.
The measures have stamped out outbreaks but created growing economic pain for local and international businesses.
Huge defaults have hit China’s property sector in the last 18 months, much of it revelations that were first reported on by international media.
Domestic media is state-controlled in China and widespread censorship is used to suppress negative stories or critical coverage.
Foreign media face intense restrictions but have more leeway and are a conduit of information in a country where official economic data can be sometimes opaque.
In his comments Fang told investors to “find out what’s really going on in China, and what’s the real intention of our government, by themselves”.
However China has been largely cut off from the rest of the world for the last 2.5 years by pandemic travel controls.
President Xi Jinping, who secured a norm-breaking third term last month, has yet to signal any timeframe for whether and when China might move away from its zero-Covid controls.
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