SHANGHAI, March 5 (Portal) – Billionaire investor Mark Mobius told FOX Business he can’t take his money out of China because of the country’s capital controls and warned investors to be “very, very cautious” about investing in an economy being under a tight grip of the government.
“I have an account with HSBC in Shanghai. I can’t withdraw my money. The government is restricting the flow of money out of the country,” Mobius, founder of Mobius Capital Partners, told FOX Business in an interview published on March 2.
“I can’t understand why they’re doing this… They put up all sorts of barriers. They don’t say no, you can’t get your money out. But they say give us all the records from 20 years of how you made that money… That’s crazy.
Möbius’ comments were circulated on Chinese social media site WeChat over the weekend.
Mobius led emerging markets investing at Franklin Templeton Investments for three decades and is known for his optimistic view of China. But now, he said, he would be “very, very careful” about investing in the country.
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“The bottom line is that China is moving in a completely different direction than what Deng Xiaoping initiated when they launched the grand reform program,” he said, referring to the former Chinese leader.
“Now you have a government that is taking over golden stocks from companies across China. That means they’re going to try to control all these companies… So I think it’s not a very good picture when you see the government getting more and more control-oriented in the economy.”
Mobius, which calls itself “the Indiana Jones of emerging market investing,” told FOX Business that it is increasing its exposure to alternative markets like India and Brazil.
Mobius and HSBC could not be reached over the weekend.
Reporting by the Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue
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