China's stock market volatility normal: US experts

NEW YORK - Volatility in Chinese stock market is normal, and investors should not over-react to it, said US experts.

Chinese shares rallied on Tuesday after a big decline in the Shanghai Stock Exchange last week. The Benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rebounded this week after it toggled in and out of negative territory at the beginning of May.

"China's stock market volatility is quite normal, and let's not pretend that developed markets are immune to the same forces," Jennifer Carpenter, an associate professor of finance at New York University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

After the 8 percent decline in the Shanghai Stock Exchange last week, some pundits came out to call the bursting of the stock market bubble in China.

"It's strange how we decry short-termism in investors and managers, yet commentators can't wait to over-react to a large move in a developing stock market," Carpenter said.

Investor sentiment can fluctuate rapidly, and moves up and down in the stocks market are natural, Robert Whitelaw, Chair of the Finance Department at New York University, told Xinhua in the joint interview. "Stock prices in China have become as informative about future corporate profits as they are in the US," he said.

Chinese stocks have rallied in the past few months, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index growing over 13 percent in the first quarter this year from about 3,200 points to almost 4,500.

"The enormous rally over the past year, that outpaced the entire world's other stock markets, was based on strong fundamentals," said Carpenter. "China's stock market loves the unveiling of Chinese government's new reforms."

Of crucial importance will be reforms to China's financial system, which will largely determine the economic efficiency of China's massive real investments in the coming years and lay the groundwork for the opening of its capital markets to the international investment community, Whitelaw said, echoing Carpenter's opinions.

"We are bullish about China's stock market in the future," Carpenter said.

As China's reformers unveil and implement each new reform, central planners around the world should pay close attention to stock prices of China, which has been the biggest contributor to global growth since 2007, according to an article wrote by the two experts.

"A bold, well-orchestrated reorganization of its outdated domestic financial system and integration into international capital markets would fuel the income and consumption growth of China's massive middle class and enrich the world," said Carpenter. "It is in everyone's interest for China to get these reforms right and succeed economically."

"Although China is still crossing the reform river by feeling the stones, it finally has a guiding light. After a first decade in the dark, China's stock market is now the world's most important crystal ball," the two experts wrote.