China stocks see a strong annual gain in 2017

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China’s stocks ended the year with an annual gain of 6.56 percent for the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, as the country’s deleverage push rippled through the stock market and stabilized the trajectory of the economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed on Friday at 3,307.97, up 11.59 points, with a market cap of 28.78 trillion yuan. As of Friday, the price-to-earnings ratio of the index was 14.82 while the dividend yield was 2 percent.

The blue-chip CSI300 Index increased by 21.8 percent in 2017. Investors rushed into mostly state-owned and large-cap companies, resulting in the blue chips leading the gain on China’s stock market.

VCG Photo

ChiNext Composite Index, a NASDAQ-style start-up board, closed at 1,752.65, down 10.67 percent for the year.

The weak performance of small start-ups has pulled down the average for China’s stock market, making it near the bottom of the Asian pack.

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Index rose 36 percent, supported by the staggering performance of Tencent, Alibaba Group and Samsung Electronics.

Asian stocks have seen a surge this year of about 30 percent, surpassing Europe and the US. Markets in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Korea have reached record highs.