The first day of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange 2026 Global Investor Conference, themed "Capital Markets and Innovative Growth: China's Opportunities Under the 15th Five-Year Plan," was held on May 28. The event featured speeches by Liu Haoling, Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and brought together numerous Chinese and international experts, scholars, and representatives from overseas regulatory bodies, exchanges, asset management firms, venture capital institutions, industry organizations, and listed companies across 24 countries and regions.
Attendees expressed that overall market valuations are reasonable, foreign capital is steadily flowing in through various channels, and Chinese assets are highlighting a unique "safety premium," reinforcing a positive outlook on the Chinese market. They emphasized abundant opportunities in China, particularly focusing on the long-term value of innovation-driven industrial chains such as AI and robotics.
Liu Haoling, Vice Chairman of the CSRC, stated that as a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation accelerates, the Chinese economy demonstrates strong resilience and new growth momentum. Capital market reforms are advancing comprehensively, further enhancing investment value. The steady progress in high-level institutional opening-up of the capital market has significantly boosted international investor confidence. Overall market valuations are within a reasonable range, and foreign investors' willingness to allocate to high-quality Chinese assets continues to grow. Since the beginning of this year, foreign capital has steadily flowed into the Chinese stock market through various channels. To date, overseas investors hold over 4 trillion yuan in A-share circulating market capitalization, establishing themselves as significant participants in China's capital market.
Li Yun, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, highlighted that Guangdong is home to 1,242 domestic and overseas listed companies, including 895 listed on domestic exchanges, leading the nation. Among these, 683 Guangdong-based A-share companies are listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, accounting for 76% of the province's domestic listings. Guangdong will firmly seize the opportunities presented by capital market reforms, fully support the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in building a world-class bourse, and continuously deepen and solidify open cooperation within the Greater Bay Area capital market. The province will promote collaboration between provincial guiding funds, such as the 100 billion yuan strategic emerging industry investment fund and the 50 billion yuan Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area venture capital fund, and social capital to establish a cluster of industrial funds characterized by "long-term capital for long-term investment."
Sha Yan, Chairman of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, noted a global trend where supply chains are shifting priority from efficiency to security. China's comprehensive industrial system, sufficient energy transition self-sufficiency rate, and ultra-large-scale market provide dual guarantees for both the efficiency and security of industrial and supply chains. Amidst significant volatility in international oil prices this year, China's energy supply system has remained generally stable and orderly. Particularly in the first quarter, China's economy started strong with GDP growing 5% year-on-year, total import and export value increasing 15% year-on-year, service consumption maintaining rapid growth, and new forms of consumption showing notable acceleration. These factors underscore the unique "safety premium" of Chinese assets.
Zhang Hui, President of Bank of China, emphasized the need to align with the times and major trends to seize new opportunities in China's high-quality development. He pointed to a historic inflection point for technological innovation, with significant original achievements emerging from deep space to deep sea, transportation to energy, and artificial intelligence to embodied intelligence. The continuous deepening of capital market opening-up is evident, as by the end of 2025, overseas institutions held 3.46 trillion yuan in bonds in the interbank market, fully demonstrating global investors' confidence in RMB-denominated assets and indicating substantial future incremental potential. The dividends of an ultra-large-scale market continue to be released; during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's per capita GDP increased from $10,000 to over $13,000, and total retail sales of consumer goods surpassed the 50 trillion yuan mark.
Shan Weijian, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of PAG, stated that China's over three decades of rapid development have fostered numerous investment opportunities. As a potential global technology hub, a country must simultaneously possess five essential conditions: a concentration of top-tier talent; a concentration of top-tier educational and research institutions; access to large-scale capital; deep manufacturing and processing capabilities; and a vast, single domestic market. China currently meets all these criteria, highlighting its potential as a global tech center. Only China and the United States possess all five conditions globally, placing them in competition. Shan believes China's future economic development relies on technology. As the primary productive force, technology enhances total factor productivity and serves as the core guarantee for China's economic growth. Technology-driven productivity increases will form the fundamental confidence for China's long-term economic development.
Michael Heldmann, Chief Investment Officer for Equities at Allianz Global Investors, highlighted a significant underrepresentation of Chinese equities in global indices. China accounts for 17% of global GDP, 29% of global A-share trading volume, and 10% of global market capitalization—yet its weight in the MSCI All Country World Index is only 3%, compared to 64.7% for the United States. "China deserves a higher weight in the indices," Heldmann asserted. A correction in this weighting would attract more foreign capital, particularly passive investment funds, into the Chinese market.
Harry Shum, Chairman of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Council, projected the long-term market potential of the low-altitude economy based on the scale of the global transportation economy. The current global high-altitude civil aviation market is valued at approximately $1 trillion, while the ground transportation market exceeds $9 trillion. Positioned between these two sectors, the low-altitude economy is projected to reach a long-term overall market size averaging the two, around the $5 trillion mark. Shum stated that, supported by a triple dividend of policy, technology, and commercialization, coupled with the continuous improvement of unified low-altitude digital infrastructure, the low-altitude economy is poised to become a new growth engine for China's real economy, warranting sustained attention from the capital market for its long-term development prospects.
The Shenzhen Stock Exchange, in collaboration with Sina Finance, released the "Shenzhen-listed Companies ESG Practice English Casebook." Themed "Shaping Endogenous Value for Sustainable Development—Practices of Shenzhen-listed Companies," this publication aims to promote China's sustainable development concepts, objectively showcase the high-quality development achievements of Shenzhen-listed companies, and highlight their long-term investment value. Nine listed companies, including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., Byd Company Limited, Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., S.F.Holding Co., Ltd., Lingyi Itech(Guangdong) Company, Tianqi Lithium Corporation, and Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc., were selected for the inaugural casebook.
Debanik Basu, Head of Asia Pacific for Stewardship and Responsible Investment at Robeco Asia Pacific Limited, noted differences in the ESG implementation paths among public and private funds, as well as active and passive public fund management products. He acknowledged the long-term progress in corporate governance, particularly in Asia and China. Over the past decade, the cost of renewable energy has continuously declined, with solar power costs decreasing at a compound annual rate of 10%. Combined with supportive regulatory policies, climate response costs could be reduced by up to 50%, highlighting the significant investment potential in Asia's new energy sector. Furthermore, carbon emission differentials exist across the entire industrial chain, making ESG metrics an indispensable reference for investment decisions.
Charles Nguyen, Managing Director and Head of ESG for Asia at Neuberger Berman, suggested that while ESG ratings are important tools for passive funds, "from a long-term perspective, they do not fully unlock true value." From an active fund perspective, what truly creates value? "It is the company's long-term focus in terms of technology, science, and capital expenditure," Nguyen elaborated. He further added that a key focus is understanding the risks and opportunities related to sustainable development as a company advances over the next five to ten, or even twenty, years.
Stuart Rumble, Head of Asia Pacific Investment Directors at Fidelity International, stated that as a long-term investor with over 20 years of experience in China and current investments of $50 billion, Fidelity focuses on structural opportunities, preferring companies with stable cash flows, strong profitability, and excellent management, and avoids being swayed by short-term trends. Regarding new technologies like AI, Fidelity is cautious of market hype that may overstate short-term prospects while undervaluing long-term potential, emphasizing the importance of aligning valuations with fundamentals. He pointed out that innovation is diffusing across infrastructure and various supply chain segments, creating broad value, with particular optimism for upstream and downstream companies in fields like AI and robotics. Despite geopolitical uncertainties, Fidelity continues to capture long-term structural opportunities in China through diversified, actively managed portfolios.
En Xuehai, Chairman of China Asset Management Solutions at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, expressed firm confidence in the Chinese market and a commitment to the philosophy of "long-term capital for long-term investment." He noted that the long-term investment theme for 2026 is set, with some targets offering annualized returns exceeding 7.7%, and remains optimistic about China's long-term investment value and continuous valuation improvement, describing China as a rare fertile ground for long-term investment. He mentioned that J.P. Morgan recently held its 22nd China Investment Summit in Shanghai, inviting hundreds of institutions and asset management representatives and organizing numerous meetings with listed companies. The firm will continue to identify high-quality investment targets and provide sophisticated solutions for clients.
Faizal Fathil, Chief Representative of Bank Negara Malaysia in Beijing, stated that from a long-term perspective, China's capital market exhibits strong resilience. Currently, global investors' allocation to Chinese assets remains relatively low overall, indicating room for further growth. In his view, three key points are central to allocating to Chinese assets: first, market valuation advantages—while the CSI 300 Index experienced a significant 30% decline at one stage, its subsequent strong rebound allows long-term capital to position based on valuation safety margins; second, dividends from industrial transformation and upgrading—China's AI technology has achieved leapfrog development, with products like DeepSeek comparable to overseas counterparts, as the country transitions from a manufacturing powerhouse to a global innovation and manufacturing center; third, the need for global asset diversification—China's economic cycle is out of sync with the global cycle, and coupled with its independent economic fundamentals, it can hedge against external risks such as geopolitical conflicts and European fiscal issues.
Tom Bailey, Head of ETF Trading for Asia Pacific at Optiver, observed that changes in China's capital market are mainly reflected in two aspects: first, the continuous evolution of valuations and investment opportunities; second, significant optimization in market operation and access mechanisms, with channels like QFII, Stock Connect programs operating smoothly and northbound and southbound capital flows steadily increasing. He noted that ETFs have become a significant trend in asset allocation, with China being a key focus for ETF development in the Asia-Pacific region, and QFII trading volume achieving double-digit annual growth. Reforms at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange have promoted ETF diversification and the development of block trading and hedging tools, with active ETFs aligning with the "long-term capital for long-term investment" philosophy. Having been in China for over a decade, Optiver sees boundless vitality and a promising future for China's capital market as connectivity mechanisms and QFII rules further open up.
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