In Chinese stock market mythology, the rarest of beasts is the slow bull.
The past couple of decades have brought two fast bulls: vertiginous surges in share prices, neither lasting more than a year.
Those soon led to fast bears when stocks crashed and, eventually, to slow bears as the descent became more gradual. Most of the time there have been what might be termed long worms as the market moved sideways, such that the CSI 300 index, a gauge of China's biggest stocks, has averaged the same level over the past five years that it first reached back in 2007.
The slow bull — a steady, almost dependable, rise year after year, well known to investors in the United States — has remained elusive.
China's indomitable investors now hope that a trundling bull has at last arrived.
Stocks have jumped by 16% so far in July and they are up by nearly 40% from their low in March. That might sound like another fast, doomed bull run. But some believe this one will be more enduring than those of the past. For starters, China appears to be in much better economic shape than other large economies.
Because investors must allocate their funds somewhere, there is always a comparative element to stock market performance.
China is the only big economy forecast to grow this year, and is also expected to record the strongest rebound next year, according to projections published by the IMF at the end of June. There are grave concerns about the toll that the coronavirus might take in America during the flu season in the autumn. By contrast, China has shown every intention of smothering renewed outbreaks. That has given people and businesses greater certainty about the path ahead.
