Some other themes bear closer scrutiny, although scrutability isn't always synonymous with the People's Republic. For instance, you might like to appraise any exposure you might have - most likely indirect - to China's real estate sector (including Hong Kong) as things are looking decidedly shaky at the moment. As if to bear this out, wealthier Chinese investors have been moving capital offshore at an accelerated rate. The Beijing-based Securities Daily recently reported that China's overseas property investments have jumped 24-fold - from $600m (£387m) in 2009 to $15bn in 2014 - with the largest flows focused mainly on Australia, the UK and the US. A run-away price correction cannot be ruled out, which presents a real problem because the middle class in China have three-quarters of their net worth and savings tied-up in Chinese real estate, as there are relatively few local investment alternatives available.
The dearth of alternative (paper) investment propositions in China is galling when you consider the bureaucratic hurdles routinely placed before western financial service companies that have tried to penetrate the Chinese market. However, change is on the way at last. A more accommodating stance from Beijing should underpin a rise in investments from the UK financial services sector from £27.7bn last year to £143.2bn in 2020, according to research from King & Wood Mallesons.
Beijing's reform of the financial services market was given impetus by the lifting of restrictions on trading the renminbi (Rmb). With the prospect of eased restrictions, the UK has been quick to spot an opportunity – or to kow-tow, depending on your viewpoint either side of the Atlantic. Last year, the UK Treasury successfully issued a sovereign bond in the Rmb, the first western country to do so. Ostensibly the £300m issue was designed to bolster the UK's flagging reserves, but it could signify the emergence of the Rmb as a potential future reserve currency - so much for the 'special relationship'.
With China's commodities, real estate and financial services markets covered, what could be left? Well, an area of China's economy that offers real growth potential for western companies is the healthcare sector. An aging populace and improving per capita income means that total healthcare spending has more than doubled over the past five years and is projected to top $1 trillion by 2020. Yet per capita spending on healthcare is only about 5 per cent of GDP - versus around 10 per cent in Japan and Europe, and 18 per cent in the US. Opportunities abound. Some industry commentators believe that China has reached a point not dissimilar to the US in the 1960s, when the establishment of the Medicare and Medicaid programmes resulted in a rapid expansion of demand for healthcare.
And again like the west, China's rapid industrialisation and subsequent transformation to a knowledge-based economy has thrown up some unlikely opportunities for healthcare providers. A peculiar manifestation of China's economic transformation, for instance, is that nine out of 10 of China's high school students now suffer from myopia, or nearsightedness, as opposed to 30-40 per cent in the US and Europe.
The odd thing is that the condition is nearly twice as common among children of China's middle-income families than it is for those that hail from poorer backgrounds. In general, rates of myopia in China are linked to higher rates of income, urbanisation and education. A number of studies have even shown a relationship between myopia and higher IQ, which probably affords a degree of solace when you walk into a wall. So if you see a Chinese schoolboy wearing specs, chances are his folks are on the up.
Ophthalmologists believe that the problem is the result of insufficient exposure to natural light. China's students tend to pursue a punishing study regime, only alleviated through recourse to social media - therein lies the rub. It's a major public health issue in the making, but one that's providing a potential source of long-term growth for specialist manufacturers in the Occident.
A likely beneficiary is France's Essilor International SA (FR:EI), the world's largest producer of ophthalmic lenses. The group could fork out around €1bn (£739m) this year, as it expands into emerging markets. China is set to become Essilor's second-largest market in 2015, as sales in the country are expected to maintain an organic growth rate of 20-25 per cent annually, according to management. 2014 earnings were up 57 per cent to €939m, while the dividend pay-out ratio is increasing and now stands at 33.7 per cent. The group's shares are well supported, so the yield is fairly anaemic at 1.03 per cent. But the long-term growth narrative, driven by Asia's bespectacled student body, looks increasingly sound, albeit blurry round the edges.
