China's long stumble

Most of the time, rumours of a $278 billion capital infusion into a stock market would send shares soaring. Not so in 2024 China, however. Even after Premier Li Qiang called for “forceful steps” to prop up the country’s economy — and despite the news that billions might be funnelled from state-owned enterprises’ overseas accounts into equities — Chinese stock indices rose by just a couple of percentage points. Given that the benchmark CSI 300 Index for mainland stocks had fallen to a five-year low, this was not exactly seen as a recovery. In fact, rather than restoring some dynamism