China's stock markets last year were the worst performing among major exchanges. Deleveraging, tightening credit conditions within the private sector, a trade war that wasn't supposed to happen, and a slowing economy showing weakness across most industry metrics all took their toll.
The year, though, ended on a positive note: the government's high-level Financial Stability and Development Committee pledged in late December to curtail official intervention in the stock market, weeks after a similar declaration from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
