Rosy outlook for investments in nation

Investing in China provides greater certainty and long-term growth potential, Li Ming, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said on Monday at the 2025 Global Investor Conference in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.

"At a time when stability has become a scarce resource globally, China's resilient economy and robust A-share market will provide global investors with irreplaceable opportunities," Li noted.

The two-day event, hosted by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, gathered nearly 400 participants, including representatives from financial regulators, global exchanges, investment institutions and listed companies.

Data show that long-term institutional investors, including social security funds, insurance companies and annuities, have net purchased over 200 billion yuan ($27.73 billion) worth of A-shares this year, reflecting a virtuous cycle between accelerating medium, long-term capital inflows and the market's steady growth, he said.

"Listed companies are the source of value for investing in China," Li noted. Despite multiple challenges, A-share listed companies have demonstrated remarkable resilience, with three-quarters remaining profitable and half maintaining profit growth.

Looking ahead, Li said the authorities will optimize overseas listing procedures, refine the qualified foreign institutional investor system, and support eligible foreign institutions in applying for new business licenses and launching new products.

Morgan Stanley Chief China Economist Robin Xing said the global economic landscape is witnessing a remarkable divergence, with China demonstrating growing stability while Western markets face mounting uncertainties.

In his keynote address, he characterized the phenomenon as "stability in the East, turbulence in the West".

Xing observed that the US globalization model, which has been working effectively over the last three decades, is undergoing fundamental transformation recently with trade protectionism and emerging economic isolationism. "The shifts present a pivotal window for strategic repositioning for China and other major economies."

The economist applauded China's proactive response. Since last September, policymakers have rolled out a comprehensive package of measures to stabilize financial markets and engineer a consumption-led transformation, laying solid groundwork for China to strengthen its economic resilience and market appeal during this period of global realignment, he noted.

"The center of global economic activity is moving very rapidly to this region (China and Asia), and it soon will be well over half of the global economy," said Ian Goldin, former vice-president of the World Bank and professor of globalization and development at the University of Oxford.

Goldin highlighted that Asia's advantage goes beyond scale. "It's not only size that matters — it's innovation … The focus is on research and development, technology and new quality productive forces to create technologies that improve the quality of human life, and also the quality of the environment," he explained.

The professor's first-hand account of Shenzhen's transformation served as a powerful illustration of Asia's economic rise. He first visited Shenzhen in 1984, when it was "a small village", in the professor's words, and this time he was very impressed by the "remarkable "changes and growth.