In China’s vision for a ‘powerhouse’ stock market, it’s slow and steady over boom and bust | South China Morning Post

China’s high-level policymakers have reiterated the need to defuse financial risks and root out political corruption, two of President Xi Jinping’s long-term priorities, in the run-up to this year’s ‘two sessions’ – the annual meetings of the country’s top legislature and political advisory body. In this series, we take stock of how those efforts have progressed, and what remains to be done.

When the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50,000 points for the first time in early February, US President Donald Trump touted the stock index’s milestone on social media – and in typical fashion, appended a prognosis for further greatness.

“Record Stock Market, and National Security, driven by our Great TARIFFS. I am predicting 100,000 on the DOW by the end of my Term,” he posted on social media.

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As Trump lays a marker for the continued dominance of the world’s largest economy – and its pre-eminent financial sector – across the Pacific, the political leadership in China is also making plans. While Beijing’s top policymakers have reiterated their goal to build the country into a “financial superpower” or “powerhouse”, they have also drawn a distinction between the system they are constructing and those found elsewhere.

“The financial sector under the leadership of our party is, in the final analysis, about serving the people,” said President Xi Jinping in a speech from 2024, republished last month in Qiushi, the Communist Party’s leading theoretical journal.

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“This stands in stark contrast to the financial systems of some countries, where finance serves capital and caters primarily to the wealthy few.”

Central to Beijing’s ambitions are the mainland’s nearly US$14 trillion yuan-traded onshore market and Hong Kong’s US$7.4 trillion offshore exchange, both seen as financial levers for China in its all-encompassing rivalry with the US.