Business opportunities aplenty in nation, says expert

SAN FRANCISCO - Bright prospects still remain for companies and investors looking at China for growth opportunities, despite the slower growth rate, a top economic expert said.

China's gross domestic product grew by 6.3 percent in the first six months of this year on an annualized basis, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

The rate, which is significantly slower than the 9.4 percent a decade ago, in fact registered greater incremental expansion since the base today is 182 percent larger, said Andy Rothman, investment strategist at San Francisco-based investment firm Matthews Asia.

"The incremental expansion in the size of China's nominal GDP would be 130 percent bigger than the expansion a decade ago at the faster pace. As a result, opportunities for companies and investors are greater at the currently slower growth rates," he said in an article published on Monday.

The investment expert said China's domestic consumption and services, the bulk of the economy, remain healthy to stabilize employment despite sluggish growth in manufacturing, investment and exports.

Moreover, the Chinese government seems prepared to handle the slowdown and prudently shun stimulative monetary and fiscal policies.

The Shanghai Composite Index was up 18 percent from the start of the year to July 15, which also indicates a positive attitude from investors toward the Chinese economy, he said.

The analyst attributed the second quarterly slowdown to dual anxieties - trade friction with the US and the Chinese government's ongoing campaign to reduce risks in the financial system.

"Chinese consumers are not very worried by the Trump tariff tantrum because this is the eighth consecutive year in which the (tertiary) services and consumption sector is the largest part of the GDP," he said.

Nominal retail sales remain healthy, income growth is robust, and the growth of per capita disposable income remained almost flat on a yearly basis.

"China remains, in my view, the world's best consumer story," he said.