China still rich in potential

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $41.10 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks. The ETF started up October 4, 2004, and has a high MER of 0.74%. It yields 2.1%. Top holdings for the $5.3 billion fund are Tencent (Internet services), 9.0%; China Construction Bank, 9.0%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.3%; China Mobile, 6.6%; Ping An Insurance, 6.3%; Bank of China, 4.6%; CNOOC (oil), 4.0%; and China Petroleum, 3.5%. China still has strong growth potential. However, to ensure longer-term stability, it needs to implement and maintain policies to cut high levels of consumer and business borrowing. That’s proving difficult given the ongoing trade war with the U.S. To offset slowing growth due to the tariffs, the government is again encouraging banks to lend money. However, China continues to tighten environmental regulations. Those measures could slow its near-term growth. iShares China Large-Cap ETF is a hold. hold…