The Chinese A-share market is now the world’s most heavily traded. But it is disconnected from trading in the rest of the planet. It is like a whale, thrashing in a small tub of water.
Everyone now acknowledges that this cannot continue much longer. And so this week was dominated by arguments over how, and how quickly, the Chinese whale can be introduced into the sea of global markets. But that requires big changes in the behaviour both of China’s authorities and of investors.
Both sides are, correctly, nervous that the Chinese whale could displace a lot of water. And in return for opening a big new conduit for foreign capital, Chinese authorities will have to relax their control over their domestic market.