QROPS ADVICE: Investment News: SPOT LIGHT ON CHINA

The recent announcement that Fidelity is to launch a China-focussed fund in March of next year would normally attract significant attention, China has been out-performing most other markets of late, and consensus appears that it will continue to do so for some time to come. What made the announcement even more note-worthy is the fact that the fund is to be managed by Anthony Bolton, the previous manager of arguably the UK's most successful investment fund; the Fidelity Special Situations fund.
Much light has been made of the fact that Mr Bolton has chosen to return to fund management, in-particular that he has chosen to spearhead Fidelity's charge into what he refers to as "the greatest investment opportunity of the next decade."
Until recently China has played a star role in many emerging market funds, more likely as part of a portfolio comprising other emerging markets such as Brazil and India. Only relatively recently have fund managers recognised the potential of the Chinese economy as an investment story in its own right, a number of China-centric funds have subsequently entered the market.
Many investors have benefited from the performance of such funds over the last 12 months, although it is very much the long-term appeal of China that has no doubt attracted seasoned managers such as Bolton, as he explains "Allocations to these markets are way too low. If I am right about the economic environment, a lot more money will come from investors in the developed world to the emerging world. The centre of gravity is shifting. If China becomes the world's second biggest economy, people just have to change the way they think about it."The result of China's ascendance as an economic superpower is that China and the US now make similar contributions to increases in world production. In fact, China has overtaken Germany to become the world's third-largest economy and some forecasts suggest that it will also overtake Japan, in GDP terms, in 2010 or 2011.
Of course, a major component of the China success story is an extremely strong reputation for quality of global exports and domestic consumption. China holds the top position in the world's car market, year to date. Even so, only 2% of the population actually own a car, compared to around 50% in the US and European Union. Additionally, with 600 million Chinese using mobile phones and 250 million accessing the internet, China is home to the world's largest and fastest growing telecoms market. Mindful of the dependency on exports, the Chinese government are making provision to ensure that policies are in place to encourage and sustain local, domestic consumption. Such proposals have been met with enthusiasm from the IMF who "supported the steps that China is taking to bolster private consumption as part of a comprehensive, well-sequenced strategy aimed at rebalancing China's growth model."