Foreign investors sold a record $12 billion worth of Chinese stocks in August as piecemeal support measures from Beijing failed to assuage concerns over slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy and a worsening crisis in the country’s property sector, reports the Financial Times. The unprecedented outflows come as figures on Thursday showed China’s manufacturing sector contracted for a fifth consecutive month, despite pledges from leaders in late July to deliver more substantial support measures for the vital property sector, which is typically responsible for about a quarter of annual economic activity.
Simmering tensions with Washington have also dimmed western investors’ appetite for Chinese assets, with US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo warning during a four-day visit to the country this week that American companies were starting to see China as “uninvestable.”
Calculations by the Financial Times based on exchange data show net sales of almost RMB 90 billion ($12.4 billion) worth of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed shares by offshore traders in August, more than any month since the programme launched in late 2014.
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