Shaun Rein on Scott Bessent's view of China

It's not going to be an easy win for Trump's tariffs and trade war.  Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, says that China isn't holding the cards and is going to fold quickly.  Now on a slight personal anecdote, I've actually advised Scott in the past when he was still at Soros Investment Management and he was investing in China.  He has been bearish and negative on China for 12-13 years, ever since I met him.  Basically, his view of analyzing the Chinese equity markets was "It's a communist country.  Thus, from an ideological standpoint, China will fail."  Well obviously in the last dozen years since I advised Scott, China's economy and political system has grown.  So Scott was not looking at data, was not looking at facts about China's strength then and he's not looking at facts and strengths now.

~ Shaun Rein, "'Made in USA:' A Wishful Scheme Dressed Up As Policy," 4:00 mark, Thinkers Forum, April 23, 2025

Ruchir Sharma on what is driving the rally in Chinese stocks

Xi Jinping is very aware that he needs the private sector to help grow.  He's facing the headwinds from the U.S., the uncertainty with the tariffs.  He needs the private sector now.  So he's trying to make the private sector more of an ally rather than the hostile attitude that he adopted a few years ago.  That's a change.

But so far, the rally has nothing to do with the stimulus.  It is very much a sentiment shift triggered by low valuations and the fact that DeepSeek has shifted the perception on China's tech prowess.

~ Ruchir Sharma, founder, Breakout Capital, "DeepSeek has shifted the perception on China's tech prowess," CNBC, February 26, 2025

Kevin Duffy makes the bull case for Chinese equities

The bull case for China is simple: it’s cheap, hated and on course to become the dominant economy on the planet.  Even the bears will concede the first two points.  But China’s economic future, contrary to a cacophony of negative narratives, makes the 2021-24 equity bear market the mother of all fat pitches, a generational buying opportunity.

~ Kevin Duffy, "Bull in the China Shop," The Coffee Can Portfolio, December 20, 2024