Economic stimulus pushes Chinese stocks to best weekly performance since 2008

Chinese markets posted their best week in nearly 16 years as the mainland’s CSI 300 Index surged 15.7% this week, supported by a slew of economic stimulus measures by the People’s Bank of China.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was on track for a weekly gain of 12.31%, making it the best week for the index since February 1998, according to FactSet data.

On Friday, the CSI 300 Index rose 4.47% to close at 3,703.68, its highest level in about a year, while the HSI Index was up 3.13% as of the last hour of trading, according to CNBC.

The rally comes as the People’s Bank of China cut the 7-day reverse repo rate to 1.5% from 1.7%, as well as cutting the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points.

The People’s Bank of China said the RRR cut was aimed at helping “create a sound monetary and financial environment for China’s stable economic growth and high-quality development.”