China holiday travel spikes, global funds shift: 5 figures investors are watching in China

Over the week, several key figures have captured the market's attention in China. During the National Day holiday, the country recorded 2.14 billion cross-regional passenger trips, with an average of 306 million journeys per day, marking a 0.7% increase from the previous year. However, the holiday box office saw a significant drop of 36.5% to 1.165 billion yuan, though the holiday span was shortened by one day compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, global investors have begun to return to Chinese equities after a prolonged period of caution. US Treasury yields surged to 24-year highs, with the 10-year yield reaching 5.36%, and the 30-year yield hitting 5.7%. This rise in yields was driven by increasing oil prices and persistent inflation concerns, which led to a sell-off in government bonds.

Despite a setback in September, Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) managed to generate HK$96.9 billion (US$12.34 billion) in investment gains over the first nine months of the year, with an average return of 6.2%. This performance was maintained despite a loss of HK$25.1 billion (1.47%) in September.

More recently, global active long-only funds have shifted their allocations to Chinese equities, ending a four-year underweight stance. Nearly 2,800 funds managing US$562 billion in Chinese stocks have realigned their positions towards benchmark-neutral levels. This move is attributed to renewed interest in the relatively cheap valuations of Chinese stocks and opportunities in the artificial intelligence sector. However, analysts caution that this shift does not necessarily indicate a bullish market trend.