Politics spur risk in China

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $46.23 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) holds the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks. Its MER is 0.74%. The ETF’s top holdings include Tencent Holdings, China Mobile, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Ping An Insurance, and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. Recent political events in China add risk for this ETF. It appears the country has moved away from the rule-by-committee set-up that former leader Deng Xiaoping inspired. That system also encouraged the country to focus on fast economic growth. Now it seems China favours a return to the kind of one-man leadership it had under Mao Zedong. That’s a step back from the path responsible for its decades of rapid expansion. iShares China Large-Cap ETF is a hold. hold…