Despite the country’s softening growth rate, fund managers still have a positive outlook on Chinese equities, with an economic “soft landing” expected this year.

The past year has been marked by two primary fears among investors: that the European debt crisis will spread, and that policymakers in the emerging markets will choke off growth with anti-inflation measures.

Asian central banks have been standouts in a world of lax monetary policy, raising rates over the past two years to stifle inflation. With that foe vanquished, growth can proceed at a more sustainable rate.