Bloomberg: U.S. Dot-Com Bubble Was Nothing Compared to Today’s China Prices

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•  Oct 27 2015 at 5:26 AM 
  

Australia may be called on to help clean up China's stock market

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[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/k/j/3/a/p/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkj3af.png/1445930134936.jpg[/img]Fang Xinghai's appointment is a positive development for China's reform agenda. Bloomberg
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by Lisa Murray
 
Fang Xinghai once joked during a speech that being head of China's stock market regulator was the most difficult finance sector job in the country.
Four years later, the reform-minded official with a doctorate from Stanford University and a special interest in Australia, is about to take on a senior job at the very same institution – deputy chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
It's a big job. The government's botched stock market rescue earlier this year is widely believed to have set the Chinese securities industry back years, just as it was starting to peak the interest of international investors.

A new trading link with Hong Kong and improvements in regulation raised hopes that China's stock market, long dismissed as little more than a casino, was showing signs of becoming a functioning, more professional market.
But after a year long rally, the market lost almost a third of its value in just four weeks, prompting the government's drastic response in July.
Central bank funds were pumped into the market, shares suspended, IPOs halted, shorting of stocks banned and at least one financial journalist locked up.
Given the run-up in the stock market had been partly fuelled by enthusiastic editorials in the Communist Party newspaper, the heavy-handed reaction smacked of panic and called into question the credibility of policymakers.


At the centre of the response was the CSRC and that's why Fang's appointment is a positive development for China's reform agenda.
He has both international and securities experience, having worked as an economist and investment official at the World Bank in Washington before coming back to China to help guide the China Construction Bank's Hong Kong listing and then heading up the Shanghai city government's financial affairs office.
He is also plugged in, with a high-level position on the government's key economic advisory group, which reports directly to Premier Li Keqiang, as well as close connections to central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
Most importantly, Fang is a good communicator. Prior to his current Beijing role, he was regularly quoted in both domestic and overseas newspapers, spoke at conferences in China and abroad and briefed foreign companies on the progress of economic and financial reforms.

While he rarely comments publicly since being promoted to Beijing's inner circle, he still plays an intermediary role. He was the Chinese official chosen to explain the Party's reform agenda at the Boao Forum, albeit in a session that was closed to the media.
This type of engagement is important for China as it looks to open up its financial markets.
Communication has been lacking in recent policy making decisions, including the stock market intervention and the surprise move in August to devalue the yuan. Both prompted wild gyrations on global markets as investors scrambled to interpret the moves in the absence of a clear and timely explanation.
Fang's appointment is also interesting for Australia as he has previously suggested there should be more engagement between the two countries' financial regulators.

He once told this newspaper ahead of a visit to Australia that Canberra "lacked ambition" in its relationship with Beijing.
"Australia should have a bigger ambition and a bigger influence on ideas and institutions rather than just influencing the region through trade," he said.
News of Fang's appointment to the CSRC was followed by another important development for reform watchers, as the People's Bank of China announced on Friday it had removed the ceiling for deposit rates.
While this is unlikely to unleash a deposit war among banks, it means that China's interest rate regime is now fully liberalised and it happened earlier than anticipated.
The removal of interest rate controls, in turn, paves the way for the yuan to become a global reserve currency. The International Monetary Fund is expected to announce next month the yuan will be added to its basket of reserve currencies, known as Special Drawing Rights.
Over the long term, that's a game changer as it means sovereign wealth funds and asset managers around the world will increasingly want to hold yuan-denominated assets.
A functioning stock market, helped along by the likes of Fang, will give them some more investment options.