, Columnist
China's Hidden Risks Rise
The government must start imposing losses on investors.
Sell.
Photographer: Mike Clarke/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
A major factor behind the soaring growth of risky wealth-management products in China is that investors typically think the government stands behind them. Lately, nervous regulators have been emphasizing that this isn't so. But they'll have to do a lot more to change expectations in a state-dominated economy.
Wealth-management products are short-term, high-yielding investments that are issued by banks. The market for such products is now worth close to $4 trillion, or nearly 40 percent of China's gross domestic product. Banks are heavily reliant on them for liquidity, and investors have come to view them as more or less risk-free, thanks to previous government bailouts.