Hop on the Chinese Roller Coaster

For most investors, buying Chinese stocks can be either an exciting proposition or an intimidating one.

Oddly enough, that's similar to the reaction you get when you ask people whether they like roller coasters. If you've followed the Shanghai Composite over the past five years or so, you can certainly feel like you've been on the Vortex at Kings Island. Consider:

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Whew. At this point, you're either running for the bathroom, or racing to get back in line for another ride.

Was it worth it?
Despite all of that volatility, the Shanghai Composite has still risen by 17% during this period, while the S&P has lost 9%.

Since last October, however, the Chinese markets have plummeted. Billions of dollars in market capitalization have been erased in the cases of China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC), Aluminum Corp. of China (NYSE:ACH), and PetroChina (NYSE:PTR).

Some investors will inevitably view the recent plunge in Chinese shares as a comeuppance, but others see it as a fresh opportunity to put money into the Chinese markets. Last May, Motley Fool Global Gains advisor Bill Mann called China "The World's Greatest Value." And even though the global markets have taken a turn for the worse since Bill's article was published, last week he re-emphasized his belief in the Chinese miracle.

Is he crazy?
You don't typically hear the words "value" and "China" muttered in the same breath, but there are definitely some better buying opportunities in the aftermath of the sell-off. Some shares that may have seemed too expensive to investors last October have returned to more reasonable valuations.

For example:

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Yahoo! Finance.

All three of these companies are led by entrepreneurial founders and innovators, exactly the types of companies that investors should be looking for in China, instead of stodgy state-owned enterprises (SOEs) like China Telecom (NYSE:CHA). Moreover, they are tapped into three very promising industries (advertising, real estate, and health care, respectively) that are poised to grow as the Chinese economy expands. Whether or not these are the companies that will come out ahead remains to be seen, but thanks to the dip in their share prices, they present us with three intriguing research ideas.

That's why Bill and his team of Motley Fool Global Gains analysts made their second trip to China a few months back, to meet with some of the country's most promising companies. The team also made stops in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore. If you'd like to read their reports, and take a peek at all the Global Gains recommendations, a free 30-day trial to the service is yours. Click here to get started.

This article was originally published on June 4, 2008. It has been updated.

Todd Wenning would not want the job of amusement-park custodian, but he respects those who put on the uniform. He does not own shares of any company mentioned. Focus Media is both a Global Gains and a Rule Breakers recommendation. The Fool's disclosure policy hopes everyone had a great summer.