NEW HAVEN, Connecticut — I saw nothing but denial in my recent post-United States election tour of Asia, with stops in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beijing and Singapore. Taking a cue from surging global equity markets, Asians are making every effort to wish away problems at home and abroad.
Nowhere is this more evident than in China. President Xi Jinping has long stressed his preference for the "good stories of China." Amid the most serious Chinese economic slowdown since the 1970s, government attempts to put a positive spin on the country's outlook have intensified. An improvement in equity-market sentiment — by Oct. 8, the CSI 300 was 35 percent above its low on Sept. 13 — was the first talking point in all my discussions. Never mind that this rebound, which has since partly reversed, is purely the product of state intervention.
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