Lone China Hotel Stock Seeing Gains Ducks Extravagance Purge | bloomberg.com
President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on fancy feasts and penthouse suites has decimated China’s hospitality industry, with a notable exception. China Lodging Group Ltd. is the only Chinese hotelier to have gained in 2016. The Shanghai-based hotel operator has risen 23 percent to $38.43 so far this year, making it the fifth-strongest performer within the Bloomberg-China Index, which tracks Chinese stocks traded in the U.S. After taking leadership of the Communist Party at the end of 2012, Xi banned official extravagance as part of an effort to stamp out widespread corruption. Lavish spending on anything from showy cars to luxury hotel rooms was out, with far-reaching consequences to caterers, entertainment and lodging businesses not to mention alcohol giant Remy Cointreau SA. Intensifying that effect has been slowing economic growth, which hovered at a seven-year low in the first half of 2016.