Biography
Janet Zhang is Content Director, China at CFA Institute, where she leads the charge in providing content in Chinese to local members and develops content focusing on China for the global member community. Previously, she worked as an economist at Gavekal Dragonomics as well as Teck Resources, covering macroeconomic issues in China. Janet holds a PhD in economics from Nankai University and was also a Post Doc Fellow at Tsinghua University.
Since 2016 began, the prospect of a major devaluation of China’s renminbi has been hanging over global markets like the Sword of Damocles. Although China's policymakers have worked hard to dispel worries, they have yet to persuade investors. Janet Zhang analyzes the causes of the depreciation, as well as the dilemma for China's policymakers.
Amid recent developments in China and the speculation surrounding them, it is important for investors to understand the trends affecting the economy and the direction of China's macro policies. Three points in particular need to be highlighted.
Janet Zhang shares two key insights from the 10th Asian Bond Markets Summit in Beijing: There is still ample room for China's bond market to develop but China's corporate bonds are quite different from those in the developed markets, so foreign investors should understand their subtleties before investing.
In the first week of 2016, China’s stock prices tumbled by 10% and the entire exchange was halted twice by the newly implemented circuit-breaker mechanism. Meanwhile, China’s currency depreciated by 1% against the US dollar and the offshore rate fell by more. Amid this turmoil, we asked CFA Institute Financial NewsBrief readers what they expected China's GDP growth rate would be in 2016.
Commodities producers took another hit at the start of 2016, following a brutal 2015. Many commodity prices hit multi-year lows. Weakening demand from China is widely blamed for the declines, but the more important factor is the supply glut.
The renminbi (RMB)'s entry into the SDR is an important milestone for both China and the world. While it will enhance China's diplomatic prestige and benefit the economy, it also presents challenges for Chinese policymakers.