China’s biggest money manager says fears about growth, corporate earnings excessive

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The government’s target of doubling per capita GDP to US$30,000 means there is enough growth potential, Zhang Kun says in his fund’s quarterly report

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The Chinese government’s goal to lift per capita GDP could benefit consumer-facing companies, according a leading Chinese fund manager. Photo: Bloomberg

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 2:24pm, 18 Jul 2024Updated: 7:56pm, 18 Jul 2024

Investors’ heightened pessimism about China’s growth prospects and corporate earnings is misplaced, according to the nation’s biggest mutual fund manager, who pointed to the potential upside from the government’s target of more than doubling the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) over the next decade.

Investors are frantically questioning whether China’s growth would stall as is reflected by depressed stock valuations and record-low yields on longer-dated government bonds, Zhang Kun, the manager of E Fund Blue Chip Mixed Fund, said in the fund’s second-quarter portfolio report published on Thursday.

The government’s target “means that per capita GDP still has a lot of upside”, he said. “As long as the living standards improve and people’s lives get better, we think there surely must be a group of companies that will be able to offer quality products and services to deliver sustained growth and returns.”

China’s policymakers set the goal of boosting per capita GDP to match the West by 2035 at a Communist Party meeting some years ago. If the goal is achieved, then per capita GDP could reach US$30,000, according to government think tanks. The per capita GDP was 89,358 yuan (US$12,322) last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Zhang runs four mutual funds with combined assets of US$8.9 billion, the most among China-domiciled money managers. His flagship blue-chip fund had 39.1 billion yuan of assets under management at the end of June, according to the report.

Customers buy skewers at the Dongmen Night Market in Shenzhen. Photo: Bloomberg

The second quarter was challenging for Zhang, with the fund’s net asset value falling 2.3 per cent in the period. China’s CSI 300 Index fell 2.1 per cent last quarter, as investors flocked to haven trades, snapping up bonds and high-dividend stocks amid a patchy economic recovery. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 7.1 per cent in the span.