Friday, June 12, 2015

Jim Rogers "absolutely" still bullish on China

A lot of water has gone under the proverbial bridge since 2007, when legendary investor Jim Rogers moved his family to Singapore, citing the region's huge potential. Of late, China's economy has stumbled badly even as its stock market has surged.

Rogers is "absolutely" still as bullish on China today as he was back in 2007 when he published A Bull in China, one of his many books. "Whatever happens, my children are still speaking Mandarin," he says. "They're not going to stop speaking Mandarin and learn Danish or something."

Overnight Wednesday, the Chinese government reported first-quarter GDP growth of 7% vs. the consensus estimate of 7% and 7.3% in Q4. The World Bank recently cut its 2015 forecast for Chinese GDP to 7.1%, roughly in line with the "new normal" President Xi Jinping discussed last year.

Asked about these figures and Rogers shrugs: "I pay no attention to those numbers," he says. "Most governments make up the numbers. The idea the Chinese government couldn't have any clue about what's going on in China is a little mind boggling to me. I'm sure they're certainly the right direction...but whether it's 3% or 9% I have no idea. China continues to grow, continue to boom."

- Source, Yahoo Finance