Chinese Markets Tumble as Xi’s Tightening Grip Alarms Investors(Bloomberg) — China’s yuan weakened and country’s stocks tumbled to the lowest level since the depths of the 2008 global financial crisis in Hong Kong, a stark rebuke of President Xi Jinping’s move to stack his leadership ranks with loyalists.Read: China Economy Shows Mixed Recovery as Industrial Activity ClimbsMarket setbacks following the reshuffle, which highlighted Xi’s unquestioned grip over the ruling party, show deep disappointment over a likely continuation of policies staked on Covid Zero and state-driven companies.Tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Meituan all tumbled as investors remained skeptical that Xi and his allies will seek a rejuvenation of private enterprise.While the appointment of Xi’s allies may help accelerate key agendas, the addition of Covid Zero advocates to the Politburo Standing Committee diminishes the chance of any early loosening of Covid restrictions.“The more centralized power becomes, the more the risk of overzealous policy implementation based on directives from the top,” said Duncan Wrigley, chief China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics Ltd. “This happened in some of the lockdowns in the second quarter.”Investors were disappointed during the congress last week as Xi defended his Covid Zero policy and fell short of offering stimulus to shore up the property market."