This Week in China: A $4 Trillion Rebound Is Giving Way to Gloom

President Xi Jinping’s efforts to regain the trust of international investors are falling flat, showing the urgency for China to do more to reverse capital outflows.

It’s only March and pundits are already calling time on the China reopening trade that had added almost $4 trillion to the value of onshore and Hong Kong-listed stocks since October. Disappointment at a consensus-lagging growth target and a lack of fresh stimulus to boost consumption has left the MSCI China Index down for the year, after being up as much as 18% in January. The yuan weakened so rapidly that the central bank acted at least once this week to slow the pace of depreciation.