Chinese firms set aside US$2.7 billion for stock buy-backs as Trump's tariffs roil markets
China's publicly listed companies have unveiled at least 20 billion yuan (US$2.73 billion) in buy-backs this week, as they set aside resources to prop up their own stock during a global meltdown in equity markets triggered by US President Donald Trump's tariff war.
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More than 100 companies have announced buy-backs, including China's state oil company
PetroChina , the world's largest appliance maker and
Midea Group . Electric vehicle battery producer
Contemporary Amperex Technology or CATL, which is said to be
seeking about US$5 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong this quarter, has set aside as much as 8 billion yuan to support its shares, according to filings.
These 100 companies are joining several deep-pocketed state funds under the umbrella of the nation's US$1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, as they buy back shares and increase their stakes to prop up prices and prevent a meltdown in the US$10 trillion onshore stock market.
China's central bank said this week that it would put its financial muscle and relending facilities behind the government's buy-backs. China Chengtong Holdings Group and China Reform Holdings Corp. said they had allocated 100 billion yuan from the 1.63 trillion yuan of state-owned capital to buy stocks.
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 09, 2025. via Agence France-Presse.
These buy-backs 'can be effective in containing the spread of panic and reducing the stampede in the market,' said Xu Chi, an analyst at Zhongtai Securities in Shanghai. 'Besides curbing short-term volatility, [the biggest] listed companies are also sending a message of confidence in their future earnings to quell any panic [about] their businesses.'
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