On October 22, the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China concluded its work in Beijing. The congress approved the composition of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as the new composition of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. On October 23, the first plenum of the CPC Central Committee was held, which appointed a new composition of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Central Committee – in effect, the political elite who will rule the country for the next five years. The plenum re-elected incumbent leader Xi Jinping as party general secretary for a third five-year term and replaced four of his former senior party associates.
The day after the convention closed, markets in Hong Kong began to shake. The Hang Seng index fell 6.4% on Monday. This is the largest single-day drop since the start of the global financial crisis. At market close, the index was at its lowest level since April 29, 2009.
The stock sale began after the announcement of the type of team Xi Jinping has formed around him. Foreign investors began dumping Chinese stocks and withdrew 17.9 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) on Monday.
The sale of shares, according to experts, was not due to the fundamental performance of the companies whose shares were sold. Getting rid of Chinese securities reflects investors’ appreciation of the risks that in China the balance of power between public and private companies will fundamentally shift in favor of the former and that the role of the party in the economy will strengthen.
With a week’s delay, the National Bureau of Statistics released data on the economy, and they showed that in the last quarter, which ended on September 30, China’s GDP grew. 3.9%. China’s quarterly GDP growth in 2022: in the first – 4.8%, in the second – 0.4%, in the third – 3.9. And in general for nine months – 3.0%. In March, the authorities set a GDP growth target for 2022 of 5.5% per year.
The full version of the October 24 follow-up to the situation in China by Nezavisimaya Gazeta editor K. Remchukov is available at this link .
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