High savings levels and low corporate debts put China and other Asian nations in a good position to recover from the current downturn.
Asia represents a better investment bet than Western nations, a poll of fund managers by Aberdeen Asset Management has indicated.
According to the experts, investing in shares from developing Pacific Rim nations could offer attractive returns, due to the countries being in a "stronger position" to recover from the present global economic downturn. This is despite equity markets in business centres such as Shanghai and Tokyo falling even further, on average, than those in London and New York due to the credit crunch.
Evidence for this point of view is found in consumer savings rates for these nations, which are far higher than those in their overspending Western equivalents. Moreover, Asian firms were also found by the managers to have consistently lower levels of corporate debt.
Hugh Young, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Asia and lead manager of various Aberdeen Asian equity investment companies, said: "No one should be under any illusion about how savage the financial crisis and how inter-linked the global economy now is. However, while the West faces up to the consequences of living beyond its means, the strength of Asia will become more apparent."
Global stock markets have fallen in value by roughly 50 percent since the onset of the credit crunch in mid-2007.
