(Half) Marathon World Record

Please find below our latest thoughts on China:

• Against the backdrop of the ongoing Middle East conflict, China continues to look better placed than most, validating its strategy of large-scale stockpiling of key commodities.
• While much of the focus has been on China’s huge oil reserves, in practice this is only one of many commodities stockpiled in the face of an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment.
• There is a long list of other products including foodstuffs such as rice, wheat, corn and soybeans, sugar and salt as well as reserves of metals – copper, aluminium, zinc, cobalt and nickel, to name a few.
• Carbon fibre – a critical component for aircraft and wind turbines – is a case in point. In the last seven years China has gone from 71% import reliance to 80% self-sufficiency.¹ 

• The enhanced self-sufficiency of China’s economy has, in our view, been a key factor in the relative stability of its financial markets. This has been reinforced by Moody’s upgrading China’s outlook to “stable” from “negative”, citing resilient economic and fiscal strength.²
• Not only have China A-shares recovered the ground lost in March at the outset of hostilities in the Middle East, but fixed income and currency markets have also been standout performers.
• While most global bond markets have moved to price in higher inflationary expectations, China’s 10-year government bond yield remains at similar levels as the beginning of March. The renminbi has continued to appreciate against the US dollar and is now around 2.3% stronger year to date.³
• A key unknown at this stage is how the disruption to global trade and the wider global economy will impact the Chinese economy if the conflict is prolonged.
• With export growth likely to moderate in coming months, some additional stimulus to boost domestic demand may be necessary if this year’s GDP growth target of 4.5-5.0% is to be met.
• However, with Q1 GDP recently coming in at 5.0%, and signs of green shoots in tier-1 city property markets, we don’t expect any significant policy course correction for the time being.
• In this environment, the focus in China equity markets continues to be firmly on the tech space. This has been reinforced by a flurry of eye-catching events and corporate announcements.
• In 2025 at the inaugural Beijing humanoid robot half marathon, the winning time was 2 hours and 40 minutes. Of 21 robots competing, only 6 finished the race.⁴
• In the same race this year, the winning time was 50 minutes – beating the men’s half marathon world record. Over 300 robots competed,⁵ highlighting how rapidly humanoid robot capability is scaling under realworld conditions.

• In another tech-related area, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker recently showcased a new battery capable of allowing an EV to drive 1,500km on a single charge – the equivalent of driving from Frankfurt to Barcelona, or Madrid to Milan.
• Its latest ultra-fast charging battery can also now achieve a full charge in just six minutes, reinforcing China’s leadership in addressing long-standing concerns around battery charging time, range anxiety and performance in extreme temperatures.
• The ChiNext market – launched in 2009 as a growth enterprise board for innovative companies, in some ways similar to Nasdaq’s role for US technology firms – has recently returned to peak levels, marking a full recovery from the weak macro/property period.⁶
• With China and the US locked in a race for technological leadership, we expect tech and AI to remain in focus. Indeed, over the longer term we see the build-out of China-centric AI infrastructure, including chips, data centres, models and applications, becoming part of the backbone of future industrial growth.

¹ Source: Gavekal as at 21 April 2026
² Source: Bloomberg, as at 27 April 2026
³ Source: Bloomberg as at 28 April 2026
⁴ Source: Reuters as at 20 April 2026
⁵ Source: Reuters as at 20 April 2026
⁶ Source: Bloomberg as at 27 April 2026