Is China limiting foreign investment flow data as investors withdraw?
Core argument: International investors have pulled more than $12bn out of mainland Chinese equities since the start of June, according to Hong Kong stock exchange data, reversing earlier inflows and pushing year-to-date net flows negative.
On Monday, daily data showing net investment flows from foreign funds into stocks in mainland China — so-called northbound trades from Hong Kong via the Stock Connect trading link — was no longer available. Information on foreign stock holdings will instead be available quarterly. The move comes as international investors have pulled more than $12bn out of mainland Chinese equities since the start of June, according to Hong Kong stock exchange data, reversing earlier inflows that many analysts said were driven by the offshore arms of state-backed institutions, and taking year-to-date net flows into the red. There has never been a full year of net outflows since Stock Connect — which allows foreign investors access to China’s stock market — launched in 2014.

