The paradigm of Asian financial markets has recently been turned on its head. The Chinese stock market, which has tracked the country’s economic rise, is undergoing an unprecedented slump. Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market has seen huge gains, with the Nikkei closing in on the all-time high it set in 1989.

Loh Boon Chye, chief executive of the Singapore Exchange Group, says the conclusion outside investors should draw from this is the region is not monolithic.