China, Hong Kong and Taiwan’s economies were among the first to suffer from the virus pandemic. They were also home to some of the most dramatic events in global financial markets this year.
Take China’s equity market, whose value topped $10 trillion for the first time since the 2015 crash and where a liquor-maker became the country’s most valuable stock. The yuan tested a record low offshore before commencing a rally that some say could take the currency to levels not seen since 1993.
In Hong Kong, colonial stalwart HSBC Holdings PLC fell to its lowest price since 1995 before becoming one of the city’s best trades. Record foreign inflows into Taiwan’s technology shares were so intense that the central bank had to intervene almost daily to rein in its strongest currency in more than two decades.