Chinese ADRs rallied in morning trading Friday, as a rebound in property sales in China spurred optimism about the growth outlook. Zeekr rose 12%; XPeng rose 7%; Li Auto rose 6%; Bilibili rose 4%; NIO and iQiyi rose 3%; JD.com, Alibaba, and NetEase rose 2%.
In an encouraging sign for the economy, residential presales for 30 key cities in China rose by 22% from the previous seven-day period of a high base last week, according to financial data provider Wind. First-tier cities led the increase across the country, with sales rising 27% last week, the data shows. In the previous week, nationwide sales jumped 58 per cent week on week.
A stabilisation in the property market, which along with relevant industries accounts for about a quarter of China’s economy, is crucial to growth. Beijing has scrapped restrictions on home purchases in most of the nation’s cities, lowered the down-payment ratio and cut mortgage rates to rejuvenate the industry as part of a broad package to bolster the economy. Investors are also waiting for a gathering of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress in coming weeks, which is expected to approve the government budget for more borrowing and sovereign bond sales.
UBS Group this week raised its forecast for China’s growth in 2025 to 4.5 per cent from 4 per cent, citing better-than-expected third-quarter growth and the government’s stimulus package.
