Finance & economics | Good-vibes rally

Xi Jinping’s belated stimulus has reset the mood in Chinese markets

But can the buying frenzy last?

A circle of Yuan bank notes
Illustration: Alamy/The Economist
|Shanghai

If Chinese retail investors had their way they would forgo the seven-day National Day holiday that ends on October 7th. An aggressive stimulus package, announced in Beijing on September 24th, has unleashed the biggest weekly stockmarket rally the country has witnessed in more than 15 years. Major indices have soared more than 25%; the Shanghai stock exchange has suffered glitches under the volume of buying activity. The prospect of halting for a full week has made netizens anxious: “We must keep trading; we must cancel National Day,” one young investor screamed into a video widely shared on WeChat, a social-media platform.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Xi’s good-vibes rally”

From the October 5th 2024 edition

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