China’s Consumer Stocks Face Lost Decade as AI Steals Spotlight

Under the shadow of Beijing’s single-minded focus on artificial intelligence, China’s consumer stocks are trapped in a lost decade.The industry is showing a stark contrast with the high-flying tech sector. MSCI China’s consumer goods sub-indexes plunged roughly 18% over the past six months to near 10-year lows, while the AI-heavy technology gauge surged to more than double its 2016 level. During the latest earnings season, consumer staples firms in the MSCI gauge missed profit expectations by nearly 50%. The malaise…