Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio says investors should still bet on China despite trade war
- Trade conflict ‘natural development’ between world’s biggest economies, founder of world’s biggest hedge fund says
- Not investing in China is ‘very risky’, Dalio says
Investors should continue to bet on China and its future growth despite a trade war that has raged with the United States for more than a year, according to Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund.
Dalio, who has been a long-time bull on China, said the conflict between the world’s two largest economies is a “natural development” as China has grown and expanded and is not dissimilar to conflicts with other rising powers in history.
“Think about it. Would you not wanted to have invested with the Dutch in the Dutch empire? Would you have not wanted to have invested in the industrial revolution and the British Empire? Would you have not wanted to have invested in the United States?,” Dalio said in a video posted on the company’s YouTube channel on Wednesday. “I think [China is] comparable. Would you have not wanted to have invested in those places?”
Bridgewater manages about US$160 billion for 350 of the world’s biggest institutional clients, including government and corporate pension funds, university endowments, sovereign wealth funds and charitable foundations.
The video was posted days after US President Donald Trump threatened to add 10 per cent tariffs on another US$300 billion of Chinese goods, adding tariffs to nearly all Chinese imports. The Trump administration also labelled China a currency manipulator after Beijing allowed the yuan to fall below the psychologically important level of 7 to the US dollar.
