China matters...just today's update

I have noted, in the last couple of days, there are various volatility related issues in China (link here) to consider at the moment as the authorities there transition one of the world's most important economies.  The shadow banking issues are material, as I have talked about before, but this chart struck me as interesting:

You cannot ignore China though.  Here are a selection of interesting articles I came across just today:

China and the US Treasury market (link here)
'data Tuesday on the foreign holdings of U.S. securities was telling. China's holdings of Treasuries fell 3.6 percent to $1.27 trillion from the month earlier, the largest decline since December 2011'

China to join the London gold fix (link here)
'ICBC,the globe's largest bank in terms of market value and assets under management, has been "steadily building its presence in the gold market since setting up its precious metals department in 2009," and is particularly keen to expand overseas'

China as a global investor (link here)
'China Fund Shifts Focus From Energy Sovereign Fund China Investment Corp. Looks for Plays on U.S., European Recoveries'

What China says, thinks and does matters more and more no matter what sort of investor you are. It is as simple as that.

And then there is the inherent growth of financial wealth.  The chart below shows that this year is the cross-over point of Asia ex Japan financial wealth being greater than the US.  Roll it forward another 10 years and Asia ex Japan and China has greater financial wealth.   That is a big investment power theme.