Despite the reassurances from western media and talking heads that China is unimportant (both its stock market and economy), Asian economies continue to show signs of contagion from China's slowdown as Thai exports weaken and Hong Kong trade tumbles. But it is the blame game that is top of mind tonight as Chinese regulators switch attention to Hong Kong brokers in their "investigation into malicious sellers." As SCMP's George Chen notes, first they blame a "foreign force," and now they blame Hong Kong, always careful not to blame themselves. After 3 down days, Chinese stocks look are opening slightly higher as there is little follow-through from yesterday's PPT rescue or today's panic-buying in US markets especilaly in light of an additional $100bn injection into the sovereign (rescue) fund.

Just throw another 100bn at it...

BREAKING: Chinese Gov injects US$100B to sovereign fund's direct investment subsidiary to buy assets abroad - Caixin pic.twitter.com/Y3OzOUfBEv

— George Chen (@george_chen) July 29, 2015

As a reminder, China closed on the weaker side overnight...

But it appears the PPT save overnight and extension through the US session is not helping China at the open...

• *CHINA'S CSI 300 STOCK-INDEX FUTURES LITTLE CHANGED AT 3,683

Update: Buying pressure arrived shortly after the open ..

• *CHINA'S CSI 300 INDEX SET TO OPEN UP 0.8% TO 3,839.96
• *CHINA SHANGHAI COMPOSITE SET TO OPEN UP 0.7% TO 3,689.82

Not exactly the follow-through they would have hoped for...

But here is the chart everyone is looking at...

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As SCMP's George Chen explains, blame continues to project outward...

Though as we saw yesterday,. any strength is being used by locals to sell (not short) into government strength as one farmer exclaimed - fighting back tears, "I have have ruined my entire family... I will nevere touch stocks again."

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Furthermore, while Western media continues to stress how unimportant Chinese stocks (and the Chinese economy now apparently) is to US stocks and the US economy... it is, as Gavekal Capital explains, crucially important and more evidence is building of a slowing Chinese economy permeating the rest of Asia...

Today’s edition of our diary of weak Asian economic stats focuses on the recently released trade and industrial production numbers out of Thailand and the trade numbers from Hong Kong. The Thai economy is feeling the pain of the Chinese slowdown acutely even in the most high level economic statistics.

 

Meanwhile the Hong Kong trade figures, which we view more as a proxy for Chinese trade given its intermediary port position connecting China with the rest of the world...

...paint the picture of the weakest trade by volume since 2013.

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But apart from that - everything is awesome judging by US equities.