In Depth: The Downsides of China’s Bond Fever

For China’s mutual fund industry, bonds are in and stocks are out.

As of the end of September, mutual funds held 16.8 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) in bonds, constituting more than half of the industry’s over 30 trillion yuan in assets, according to East Money Information Co. Ltd., a financial data compiler. In contrast, stocks accounted for less than a quarter.