Analyst recaps higher Chinese stock market performance this week

Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.83 percent to 3,696.77 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.6 percent higher at 11,634.67 points. The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, surged 2.61 percent to close at 2,534.22 points.

China Global Television Network (CGTN) market analyst Timothy Pope highlighted these trends in his recap of China's stock market performance this week.

"The Shanghai Composite Index touched 3,700 points yesterday before a bit of profit taking, and today closed up 0.8 percent at a shade under 3,697. That psychological barrier aside, it's been the best week in seven months for the market. But investors had to shrug off quite a bit of lackluster data to get it there. The industrial output, retail sales, fixed asset investment, none of these numbers looked really great for the month of July. But we seem to have one of those situations where bad data sends the market higher. Because what investors want is stimulus, and the market feeling is that if the economic recovery shows signs it might stall, they're more likely to get it," he said.

"So there were gains for pretty much every sector except financial stocks today. Chinese real estate stocks were definitely out and front, despite the lackluster data in that sector as well. There were sluggish sales and growing inventories of unsold new properties on developers' books. But that wasn't enough to put off investors, especially after media reports this week that the central government is considering lifting a long-standing restriction on state-owned companies buying residential property. This rule has been around for about 15 years, so overturning it is kind of a big deal. But I suppose if it happens, the issue becomes 'and then what?'. But the news was enough to push a real estate sub-index up by two percent today. And some of the major stocks were up quite strongly, Poly Developments up 1.8 percent and China Vanke up 1.5 percent," he said.

Analyst recaps higher Chinese stock market performance this week

The multilateral system is "under attack" amid global turmoil, President of the 80th UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock warned in her remarks on Wednesday.

In her briefing on the priorities for the resumed 80th Session of the General Assembly, the UNGA president noted that the current multilateral system does not collapse all in a sudden, but "crumbles piece by piece" in divisions, compromises, and lack of political commitment.

The president called all the UN member states to defend the UN Charter and international law and promote cross-regional cooperation.

She also urged to push forward the work of the UNGA on certain critical issues with a strong majority, rather than an absolute consensus among all member states. Such act is not a failure of multilateralism, but "an affirmation of it," she said.

The foundational principles of the institution should not be eroded by appeasement, she said, calling the member states to show courage, leadership, and responsibility at the UN's "critical make-or-break moment."

"The UN needs you. Your support, your leadership, your principle, stand, your cross-regional cooperation, if we are to preserve and modernize this institution, if we are to make it, rather than break it," she said.

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"