In the midst of the trade war between China and the United States, as pressure mounts on the Chinese Communist regime, foreign media are stirring up stories about “patriotic” retail investors flocking to the stock market to support the market and resist the U.S. Observers believe that the Chinese Communist Party is using propaganda techniques such as shifting from exports to domestic sales to deceive the public into providing it with blood, which is actually a very dangerous move.
Reuters reported on April 22 that, before U.S. President Trump announced the implementation of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, interior designer Cao Mingjie from Guangdong Province, China, although having never speculated on stocks before, decided to invest 2000 yuan (RMB, Chinese currency) into the Chinese stock market each month. Cao Mingjie also stated, “The goal is not to make money, but to contribute to the country.”
According to Reuters, retail investors like Cao Mingjie are joining the “national team” to support the stock market and resist pressure from the U.S. The buying interest is mainly focused on sectors benefiting from the Chinese Communist Party’s national strategy, such as defense, consumption, and semiconductors.
Reuters also mentioned other such “patriots,” but rare reports of these examples in mainland China media were noted.
Prominent Beijing dissident Ji Feng told Epoch Times that under the tariff war, at least half of China’s foreign trade personnel are now unemployed. Those who pay to support the stock market in the name of “patriotism” are divided into two categories: those who follow the trend and seek attention, and those brainwashed “patriotic traitors.”
Historian Li Yuanhua in Australia told Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Party is using the common tactic of shifting from exports to domestic sales, allowing foreign media to report on retail investors supporting the market for the country, with the goal of achieving a propaganda effect. This kind of propaganda itself reflects the lack of confidence that the Chinese Communist Party has in its economy. It hopes to stimulate nationalist sentiment among its followers by draining their resources. This is actually a very dangerous move for the general public.
After U.S. President Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on China, the Chinese stock market experienced a sharp drop, prompting the Chinese Communist Party to intervene to rescue the market with state-owned enterprises collectively increasing their holdings. Additionally, there have been recent inflows of funds from Chinese retail investors.
According to Reuters, data from financial information provider Datayes shows that since the sharp drop on April 4, the Chinese stock market has received a net inflow of 45 billion yuan from retail investors. In contrast, before Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, the Chinese stock market experienced outflows for six consecutive trading days, totaling 91.8 billion yuan.
Human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping in the U.S. also expressed doubts about the authenticity of the media’s reports.
Wu Shaoping told Epoch Times that stocks worldwide are falling due to the trade war initiated by the U.S., but stocks in mainland China are unexpectedly rising. This clearly goes against the normal trend of the stock market, indicating that the market is being manipulatively controlled. Moreover, the common people do not have the financial means to support such a market.
Beijing scholar Li Yue (pseudonym) stated that in the face of the China-U.S. tariff war, the only resources the Chinese Communist Party can control are domestic resources, including the Chinese people. Currently, it is essentially deceiving ordinary people to sacrifice themselves for it.
Li Yue analyzed that this trend of supporting the market has three stages. The first stage is the Chinese authorities announcing investments at official meetings, the second stage is various major state-owned enterprises declaring confidence in Chinese investors and the market, stating how much they have bought, and making a series of statements. The current promotion of retail investors as patriotic supporters in protecting the market essentially represents the third stage.
Earlier, the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, People’s Daily, claimed in a front-page commentary on April 7 titled “Focus on Doing Our Own Thing” that “The sky will not fall.”
Li Yue stated that the tariff war is essentially the “Achilles’ heel” that the U.S. has found to deal with the Chinese Communist Party. The Communist Party relies on economic growth to address its problems, but now this growth is increasingly difficult to achieve.