New Delhi, Dec. 30 -- Whether China's economy and stock market score another surprisingly strong year in 2026 depends in large part on how well things go in the U.S.

In 2025, the MSCI China exchange-traded fund has soared 29%, compared with 18% for the S&P 500. The Chinese economy rode out U.S. tariffs more easily than expected, and Beijing emerged from trade negotiations showing it has a strong hand to play against Washington.

And fund managers see a decent set-up for Chinese stocks next year. The enthusiasm sparked by the DeepSeek artificial-intelligence model continues to draw investors to China's "new economy:" AI, biotech, robotics, semiconductors, and clean tech, partly because they believe that becoming more self-reliant in tech ...