Chinese stocks rally on government property stimulus

Chinese stocks surged for the last session of the week, with the Shanghai Composite climbing a tad more than 1%, while the Shenzhen Index added 1.18%.

Mainland equities benefited from a lift in investors’ sentiment following a series of positive economic data.

China saw its industrial production in April come out higher than expected, while the unemployment rate decreased from 5.2% in March to 5% in April.

Chinese stocks strongly rebounded from earlier losses this week as investor confidence remained resilient, despite weaker retail sales growth, which marked the slowest pace since July last year. Most importantly, markets were lifted by optimism as the government implemented a long-awaited stimulus programme aiming to boost economic growth, especially in the struggling property sector.

To address the property market crisis, the government implemented measures like easing mortgage rules and committing to complete unfinished homes.

Additionally, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) plans to provide CNY 300 billion ($41.5 billion) in funding to help state-owned enterprises purchase unsold homes, supporting the economy. Gains were observed across the heavyweights on the Chinese stock markets.

Among big banks, ICBC, the Agricultural Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank also closed in the green. The Bank of China’s performance remained unchanged for the day. Longyuan Power, a wind power business, experienced a notable uptick in its shares, rising by 3.46% after issuing CNY 2 billion ultra short-term bonds at a 1.77% coupon rate.

Conversely, Trina Solar Co, a solar panel manufacturer, saw its shares decline by nearly 2% following the announcement of Gao Jiqing’s appointment as its vice chairman.