China's big short looks more likely to be a squeeze on investors

Beijing

TRADERS who think they've found China's next big short could be setting themselves up for a squeeze.

That's the takeaway from top-ranked fund managers and analysts after short interest in Ping An Insurance Group Co, China's largest non-state controlled financial firm, swelled to a record HK$54 billion (S$9.5 billion) in June. It's by far the biggest bearish wager on Hong Kong's stock exchange, where most of China's top companies have listings.

While pessimists argue that Ping An is vulnerable as Chinese regulators cr…