When a giant sneezes

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: What are the consequences of China's recent stock market crash - for the Chinese economy and for businesses in the region?

Toby Latta CEO, Asia-Pacific Control Risks

WE should worry about the Chinese economy but the stock market is a side-story; people are reading too much into it. To see implications in perspective, focus on fundamentals: Mainland bourses are speculative beasts which do not play the same role as "normal" stock markets. Chinese companies don't depend on them for funding, movements have little to do with real company value and performance, and relatively few Chinese households own shares.

Mainland markets do not reflect or affect the wider economy the way they do in most countries. Their slump might reinforce the wider economic sl…