It comes to something when investors turn to China’s President Xi Jinping — who is now able to serve without term limits as head of the one-party state — to provide stability to the market at times of uncertainty.
This is the strange turn of events as the trade dispute between the US and China escalates. In one corner, Donald Trump, who is now upending through protectionism the market’s faith that free trade will continue growing the global economy. In the other, Mr Xi , the leader who will now be relied on by investors to keep a cool head in the face of America’s rolling programme of tariffs.
Not so many years ago, investors would have weighed up the political risk of a recalcitrant China at odds with a reliable US. But listen to Valentijn van Nieuwenhuijzen, chief investment officer at the Dutch fund NN Investment Partners. “Trump is difficult for all of us to forecast [on trade] and China will play it with very pragmatically,” he said.