China's Historical P/E Ratio

Below we highlight the price and P/E ratio of China's Shanghai Composite since 1997.  The current P/E ratio of the Shanghai Composite is 52.06, not cheap by any means.  But 50+ P/Es are not new for the index.  As shown, it reached these levels back in 1999 and 2000 and stayed relatively high until the end of 2003.  Hindsight shows that things got ridiculously cheap back in 2004 and 2005 compared to earlier levels. 

Comments

[Amit Chokshi]

Is the E for current year operating earnings or for net earnings which would include investment gains? Given that many firms in China are booking significant investment gains, the P/E may be understated if it includes investment gains along with operating earnings.