Nearly half of Chinese people who are planning to invest more this year pick wealth management products as their top investment choice, according to a survey conducted by the People’s Bank of China.
The survey showed that about 33.9 percent of urban households in China intend to invest more this year, with the top three investment choices being wealth management products from banks, securities companies, and insurance companies (49.2 percent); fund trust products (20.5 percent); and stocks (19.3 percent).
Some 22.9 percent of the households polled said they intend to buy a house in the next three months, 2.8 percentage points higher than the fourth quarter of last year.
Another PBOC survey showed rise in business confidence among China’s entrepreneurs in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the last quarter of 2016.
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The entrepreneur confidence index grew to 61.5 from 54.1 the previous quarter and 43.7 during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, British banking giant Standard Chartered (StanChart) said it will increase investments in China this year, especially on digital banking, wealth management, and its renminbi business.
StanChart chairman Jose Vinals said China is a critical market for the bank as the country and the northern Asian region are contributing about 40 percent to the group’s total income.
The London-based bank also said it seeks to partner up with the Chinese side under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Vinals announced the group’s investment plans in China as he remains bullish on the Chinese economy, describing the 6.5% growth target for the country this year as very wise.
He said StanChart will continue to bet on the further opening up of the Chinese financial system, the greater role of the renminbi in the global markets, as well as domestic structural reforms with emphasis on quality and efficiency.
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StanChart posted a pre-tax profit of US$409 million in 2016, turning around from a loss of US$1.5 billion a year earlier. – BusinessNewsAsia.com
[tags: Chinese investors, Chinese Investors]