China keeps dangling stimulus but still no details

Hopes for global growth and Chinese stocks jumped ahead of the two-day Work Conference in Beijing but those looking for details were left disappointed.

The main pledges were towards a more-proactive approach and higher debt relative to GDP but the details — or even the broad outlines — of politicizes were ignored.

The comments called for a “forceful” boost to consumer spending and stabilization in the property market but it’s mostly unclear how that will happen. The latest statement said they would ‘reasonably’ control supply of new land supply for real estate,
pushing forward the work of rebalancing commercial housing stocks.

In terms of growth, there was no official target but said it was “necessary to maintain steady economic growth.” Those targets and details of stimulus policies are likely to be released in March at annual parliament meetings.

Delays in policies show a lack of urgency in countering the slump in the mood in China but also reflect uncertainty about the US. The statement alluded to that, saying “the adverse impact brought by changes in the external environment has deepened.”

So far, Chinese ETFs listed in the US are taking this in stride but had earlier given back most of the pre-conference rally.

Overall, I see these comments as an indication that something strong is going to come next year but I don’t know how patient the market will be in the short term.

See also: What the market misunderstands about China

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.