A Chinese woman lets fly a toy shaped like a bird in front of a giant Chinese flag in BeijingNg Han Guan
If there's one investing theme that won't go away, it's China. The world's third-largest economy and one of the fastest-growing economies, the biggest consumer market on the planet, the largest holder of U.S. government debt, and the driving force behind most commodities markets. As for equities -- if they're selling in Shanghai tonight, you can bet the Dow will be lower tomorrow.
Its economic clout is more prominent than ever, a year after the financial meltdown began and 60 years after the Communist Party took power. How can you capitalize on it?
We asked Jim Rogers, renowned investor and co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros. You sent in your questions and one of our Globe Investor editors, Sonali Verma, called Mr. Rogers, who answered them. Click on an audio clip to listen to what he had to say.
Mr. Rogers, a native of Demopolis, Alabama, is an author, financial commentator and successful international investor who has also been a visiting professor at Columbia University. After attending Yale and Oxford University, Mr. Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. During the next 10 years in the 1970s, the portfolio gained 4200 per cent, while the S&P rose less than 50 per cent. Mr. Rogers then decided to retire - at age 37.
In 1990-1992, Rogers fulfilled his lifelong dream: motorcycling 100,000 miles across six continents, a feat that landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records. As a private investor, he constantly analyzed the countries through which he traveled for investment ideas. He chronicled his one-of-a-kind journey in Investment Biker: On the Road with Jim Rogers. He also embarked on a Millennium Adventure, in which he traveled for 1101 days on his round-the-world, Guinness World Record journey. Passing through 116 countries, he covered more than 245,000 kilometers, which he recounted in his book Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip. His book, Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably In The World's Best Market, was published in 2004. His recent book, A Bull in China, describes his experiences in China as well as the changes and opportunities there. His latest book is A Gift to My Children.
In 1998, Mr. Rogers founded the Rogers International Commodity Index. He is an outspoken advocate of agriculture investments and is involved with a direct, farmland investment fund, Brazil-based Agrifirma.
In 2007, Mr. Rogers sold his mansion in New York City for about $16-million (U.S.) and moved to Singapore. His older daughter is now being tutored in Mandarin to prepare her for the future. He is quoted as saying: "If you were smart in 1807 you moved to London, if you were smart in 1907 you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007 you move to Asia." He chose not to move to Chinese cities like Hong Kong or Shanghai due to the high levels of pollution.
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