China’s Warren Buffett
The Perfect Chinese Poster Boy for Equities
China’s Warren Buffett, Lin Yuan, says he is keeping every penny invested in a share market that has nearly quadrupled in the past 18 months. “Don’t ask me whether the bull run has peaked. The stock market will be in an uptrend in the long run,” says Lin Yuan, who has become an idol for the millions of Chinese who are pouring into the stock market for the first time this year. A 44-year-old medical college graduate who was born in the poor northern province of Shanxi, Lin says he’s turned an initial stake of 8,000 yuan (US$1,045) into assets of well over 1 billion yuan in the last 18 years.“My principles are simple: I nearly always invest every penny in the market,” Lin said in a telephone interview from Beijing late on Wednesday. “To win in the stock market, you must invest everything there for most of the time.” For ordinary Chinese with little experience of financial investing, Lin offers both a rags-to-riches story that promises eventual success, and a clear, optimistic investment philosophy. Lin began investing in stocks in 1989, as a low-ranking museum employee in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen — before China had fully embraced a market economy, and before the launches of the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges in 1990 and 1991. He weathered two big market crashes, giving him the confidence to stay bullish on Chinese stocks even as many foreign financial figures warn of a dangerous bubble — including former U.S. central bank chief Alan Greenspan.
