Alternative Chinese Investment

Years ago when we want to invest in the red hot Chinese stocks, we can only either get a mutual fund or buy the few Chinese Internet frontiers listed on Nasdaq such as Sohu.com(NTES), Netease.com (NTES) or Sina (SINA). The bad thing was there were not much choice out there. However the good thing was also there were not that much choice to make in terms of investing China.

Now with waves of Chinese companies flooding the US stock market, it actually becomes more difficult to make a wise pick. There are so many Chinese stocks out there that you can no longer just categorize them as emergying market. Just as investing in US stocks, we could divide the Chinese stocks by industries such as technology, energy, biotech and even alternative energy.

Here lets take a look at the solar power sector. With the economy taking off so quickly, the energy consumption also becomes enormous. China is smart enough to invest heavily on alternative energy such as solar power so that it has more place to draw power from. Here are the China based companies that are involved in solar power:

• LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (LDK): the Xinyu, China based company makes solar wafers to manufacturers of solar cells. Recently the stock has been hit hard on short of inventory rumor and lost almost 50% in just week. Before the inventory issue becomes more clear, this is a riskier stock to invest.
• Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (SOLF): the Qidong, China based company makes solar cells. Same as LDK Solar, the stock lags behind other competitors due to tight polysilicon supplies. Other concern on the company includes lack of funding for mega contracts.
• Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP): the Wuxi, China based company also makes solar cells. The annual revenue of $600 million dwarfs the $80 million annual revenue of SOLF. The stock is now trading around 52 weeks high.
• JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (JASO): the Nangjin, China based company makes and sells solar cells to China, US, Europe and South Korea. The stock has been one of the most successful IPO of this year with return of more than 230%.
• Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (YGE): the Boading, China based company makes solar cells, polysilicon ingots and wafers and integrated photovoltaic systems. Since its debut on June 7 at $11 per share, the stock has gained 183% to $31.13 per share.
• Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL): the Changzhou, China based company makes and sells solar modules. Its annual revenue has been ballooning for the past three years from $400 thousands in 2004 to $27 million in 2005 and then $114 millions last year. The stock has also been doing well now up about 200% since its IPO last December