China EV Stocks Among Top Losers in Covid-Induced Plunge in 2022

In a year when global markets were tethered to anticipation over the end to China’s Covid-Zero policy, the nation’s virus rules and its abrupt unwinding heavily influenced local stock winners and losers.

The MSCI China Index has dropped 23%, poised for its worst year since 2008, lagging Asia’s regional benchmark as sectors such as electric vehicles and tech hardware suffered from lockdowns and weak consumer confidence. Yet China’s dizzying about-face toward Covid rules has given impetus to virus-related drugmakers like Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co, and China Meheco Co., making them the gauge’s biggest gainers.

A persistent property crisis ...