China’s Stock Market Nears a Mind-Boggling $13.9 Trillion – Investors’ Rollercoaster

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Well, it looks like China’s stock market has decided to do its best impersonation of a rocket – minus the safety harness. Since 2021, it’s been basically on a rollercoaster ride that neither the Mad Hatter nor a caffeinated squirrel could keep up with, now flirtatiously inching towards a staggering ¥100 trillion ($13.9 trillion), according to Bloomberg-which, for scale, is enough to make even the most hardened investor do a double-take and maybe a small happy dance.

The combined market cap of Shanghai and Shenzhen has officially burst through previous records, trading at a mind-blowing ¥95.98 trillion (that’s about $13.36 trillion, in case you’re wondering whether math is involved here). As of August 7th, it was like watching a financial fireworks show where the sky is the limit-except, in this case, the sky is more like the floor, since nobody quite knows where this bubble might pop, if at all.

Bloomberg points out it’s not just good fortune but a clever mixture of retail investors (who are probably simultaneously jumping with joy and clutching their wallets), and China’s “national team” – a lovely euphemism for government-backed investors whose job is basically to keep the markets from throwing a tantrum. Think of them as the stock-market equivalent of a calming nanny for the overly excited toddler that is China’s economy.

One notable player in this grand game is Central Huijin Investment Ltd., which is like the big sibling of the China Investment Corporation-founded way back in 2007 with $200 billion and now managing an eye-watering $1.3 trillion. These guys primarily focus on ETFs, probably because they know the real fun is in watching a basket of stocks dance rather than keeping track of individual securities. Yawn.

Meanwhile, while China is busy pouring cash into its stock markets, it’s also hoarding gold like a dragon in a fairy tale-except this dragon might be holding back some of its treasure, because, as analysts suggest, transparency is overrated and potentially expensive. Stefan Gleason, from Money Metals, wryly notes, “It’s smart for China to keep mum on how much gold they’re buying-they wouldn’t want to drive up the price, after all.”

And if all that wasn’t enough to keep your head spinning, China seems to be playing a bit of a game with US Treasuries, recently dropping out of the top three foreign holders after a multi-month sell-off. Could be they’re hedging their bets-or just elegantly avoiding the American debt collection agency, who knows?

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2025-08-10 22:46