First State's Lau: 'I cannot remember the last time I was positive on China'

Lau (pictured), who co-manages 10 Asia vehicles for the firm, said his $2.7bn Asian Equity Plus fund has 40% allocated to China, compared to 43% for the MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan index. However, the majority of this weighting comes via Hong Kong and Taiwan exposure, with only 5%-10% direct exposure to China compared to 22% for the index. Lau said: "We have been very cautious on China; I cannot remember the last time we were positive. We are very cautious on China's economic growth as it is already the second-largest economy in the world, so it cannot grow that much more. "We belie...