Last year was a disappointment for international investors in the Chinese stock market. Despite widely held expectations that the new leadership would announce sweeping economic reforms that would drive investor sentiment, concerns relating to both slower economic growth and excessive credit and borrowing undermined any positive momentum.

The commonly followed CSI300 market index lost more than 7.5 per cent. This was despite a recovery towards the end of the year due to better economic news and optimism that the promised reforms would be forthcoming following a significant meeting of the Communist party in October.

Some investors, mostly local and retail, did manage to outperform significantly in a more speculative segment of the market. Investors that participated in the renewed enthusiasm for smaller capitalised companies and the resurgence of China’s small enterprise market, known as ChiNext, enjoyed returns in excess of 80 per cent. The ChiNext market was launched in Shenzhen in 2009 and is the mainland’s version of the Nasdaq.