HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Investing in China need not be too stressful, provided you avoid investing in Chinese companies. As consumer bellwethers Alibaba (9988.HK) and Tencent (0700.HK) struggle with the country’s uneven retail recovery, foreign firms selling popular items like luxury goods and chip equipment to the People’s Republic are rallying. It could be a sign of things to come.
A spending pop in the transport, food and beverage and hospitality sectors helped lift first-quarter GDP to 4.5%. But that data was flattered by comparison to a grim 2022, and April data on imports, inflation and bank loans all disappointed. Household time deposits climbed sharply to 92 trillion yuan ($13.3 trillion) last month, implying weak consumer confidence.
Quarterly results from China’s internet giants paint a gloomy picture. E-commerce company Alibaba and social media and entertainment group Tencent are forecast to report just single-digit percent revenue growth in the three months to March later this week, in no small part because discretionary spending even on relatively affordable categories like apparel, electronics and video games has yet to fully bounce back. Executives at online retailer JD.com (9618.HK) recently cautioned that
To bet on China’s shoppers, ditch its companies
