Remembrance of things past

Cast your minds back to the lazy, sultry summer days of August 2008. The Olympics were mere hours from commencing. The words “Wall Street” still commanded respect across the globe. And the earnest hopes and dreams of traders still supported the Shanghai Composite Index above 2,500 points. Our innocence may be lost (we blame the cherub-cheeked False Dmitri known as Lin Miaoke), but the hearts of investors are returning to those glory days. Yes, the SCI closed yesterday at a nine-month high of 2,559.91, its highest close since that fateful day of August 8. Investors’ spirits were lifted by indicators of strong manufacturing activity, and they are not alone. The State Information Center, a Beijing think tank, has said that rising investment thanks to China’s stimulus package will push economic growth to 7% in the second quarter, up from the decade-low 6.1% growth posted in the first quarter. Of course, investment-led growth, while useful for boosting short-term GDP numbers, isn’t as desirable as the more sustainable consumption-led growth that Beijing is trying to spark. Maybe China Mobile can lead the way by convincing everyone and their cousin to buy 3G phones; to that end, the company has called for a third round of tenders for 3G telecom equipment to bring local standard TD-SCDMA to 70% of China’s population by December.