UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM N-Q

 

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED
MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY

 

Investment Company Act file number

811-21926

 

Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

522 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York

 

10036

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(Zip code)

 

John H. Gernon

522 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10036

(Name and address of agent for service)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

 212-296-0289

 

 

Date of fiscal year end:

December 31,

 

 

Date of reporting period:

September 30, 2017

 

 



 

Item 1.  Schedule of Investments.

 

The Fund’s schedule of investments as of the close of the reporting period prepared pursuant to Rule 12-12 of Regulation S-X is as follows:

 



 

Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc.

Portfolio of Investments

Third Quarter Report

September 30, 2017 (unaudited)

 

 

 

Shares

 

Value
(000)

 

Common Stocks (97.4%)

 

 

 

 

 

Aerospace & Defense (2.0%)

 

 

 

 

 

AECC Aviation Power Co., Ltd., Class A

 

2,552,761

 

$

12,017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Automobiles (2.6%)

 

 

 

 

 

SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd., Class A

 

3,446,500

 

15,664

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banks (8.7%)

 

 

 

 

 

China Construction Bank Corp., Class A

 

22,027,793

 

23,113

 

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Class A

 

31,671,800

 

28,607

 

 

 

 

 

51,720

 

Beverages (4.1%)

 

 

 

 

 

Jiangsu Yanghe Brewery Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., Class A

 

1,089,471

 

16,647

 

Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd., Class A

 

1,664,400

 

7,719

 

 

 

 

 

24,366

 

Capital Markets (4.1%)

 

 

 

 

 

CITIC Securities Co., Ltd., Class A

 

7,071,167

 

19,363

 

CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. H Shares (a) 

 

2,315,500

 

5,092

 

 

 

 

 

24,455

 

Commercial Services & Supplies (3.6%)

 

 

 

 

 

Focused Photonics Hangzhou, Inc., Class A

 

4,239,355

 

21,239

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electrical Equipment (4.9%)

 

 

 

 

 

NARI Technology Co., Ltd., Class A

 

6,389,901

 

15,891

 

XJ Electric Co., Ltd., Class A

 

5,418,665

 

13,247

 

 

 

 

 

29,138

 

Food & Staples Retailing (1.0%)

 

 

 

 

 

Zhongbai Holdings Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

4,021,288

 

5,678

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food Products (3.6%)

 

 

 

 

 

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

5,158,287

 

21,354

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health Care Providers & Services (1.8%)

 

 

 

 

 

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co., Ltd. H Shares (a) 

 

4,333,300

 

10,584

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure (5.0%)

 

 

 

 

 

China CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd., Class A

 

8,487,724

 

27,382

 

Tsui Wah Holdings Ltd.

 

14,970,000

 

2,108

 

 

 

 

 

29,490

 

Household Durables (6.3%)

 

 

 

 

 

Midea Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

3,175,100

 

21,122

 

Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd., Class A

 

7,107,100

 

16,144

 

 

 

 

 

37,266

 

Information Technology Services (2.2%)

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Enterprise Solutions Co., Ltd., Class A

 

7,648,407

 

13,368

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurance (6.5%)

 

 

 

 

 

China Pacific Insurance Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

5,443,931

 

30,265

 

 



 

ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co., Ltd. H Shares (a)(b)(c) 

 

1,000,000

 

8,123

 

 

 

 

 

38,388

 

Media (3.2%)

 

 

 

 

 

China South Publishing & Media Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

8,223,468

 

18,904

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multi-Line Retail (1.0%)

 

 

 

 

 

Wangfujing Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

2,122,371

 

5,687

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (1.3%)

 

 

 

 

 

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Class A

 

8,881,251

 

7,888

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Products (2.3%)

 

 

 

 

 

Shanghai Jahwa United Co., Ltd., Class A

 

2,874,797

 

13,922

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pharmaceuticals (14.3%)

 

 

 

 

 

China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Class A

 

13,902,069

 

58,452

 

Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

1,936,505

 

26,441

 

 

 

 

 

84,893

 

Professional Services (2.2%)

 

 

 

 

 

BlueFocus Communication Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

11,714,718

 

13,015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Estate Management & Development (5.2%)

 

 

 

 

 

China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co., Ltd., Class A

 

5,375,731

 

14,793

 

Poly Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., Class A

 

10,143,700

 

15,881

 

 

 

 

 

30,674

 

Road & Rail (2.1%)

 

 

 

 

 

Daqin Railway Co., Ltd., Class A

 

9,282,900

 

12,228

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software (4.0%)

 

 

 

 

 

Aisino Corp., Class A

 

4,981,547

 

14,106

 

Venustech Group, Inc., Class A

 

2,826,300

 

9,420

 

 

 

 

 

23,526

 

Transportation Infrastructure (5.4%)

 

 

 

 

 

Jiangsu Expressway Co., Ltd., Class A

 

11,281,748

 

16,661

 

Shenzhen Airport Co., Ltd., Class A

 

11,592,441

 

15,147

 

 

 

 

 

31,808

 

Total Common Stocks (Cost $497,062)

 

 

 

577,272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short-Term Investment (1.4%)

 

 

 

 

 

Investment Company (1.4%)

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds - Government Portfolio - Institutional Class (d) (Cost $8,516)

 

8,515,651

 

8,516

 

Total Investments (98.8%) (Cost $505,578) (e)(f)

 

 

 

585,788

 

Other Assets in Excess of Liabilities (1.2%)

 

 

 

6,862

 

Net Assets (100.0%)

 

 

 

$

592,650

 

 


(a)

Security trades on the Hong Kong exchange.

(b)

Non-income producing security.

(c)

144A security — Certain conditions for public sale may exist. Unless otherwise noted, these securities are deemed to be liquid.

 



 

(d)

The Fund invests in the Institutional Class of the Morgan Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds - Government Portfolio - (the “Liquidity Funds”), an open-end management investment company managed by the Adviser. Advisory fees paid by the Fund are reduced by an amount equal to its pro-rata share of the advisory and administration fees paid by the Fund due to its investment in the Liquidity Funds. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, advisory fees paid were reduced by approximately $4,000 relating to the Fund’s investment in the Liquidity Funds.

(e)

The Fund is permitted to purchase and sell securities (“cross-trade”) from and to other Morgan Stanley Funds as well as other funds and client accounts for which the Adviser or an affiliate of the Adviser serves as investment adviser, pursuant to procedures approved by the Directors in compliance with Rule 17a-7 under the Act (the “Rule”). Each cross-trade is executed at the current market price in compliance with provisions of the Rule. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Fund did not engage in any cross-trade transactions.

(f)

At September 30, 2017, the aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes approximates the aggregate cost for book purposes. The aggregate gross unrealized appreciation is approximately $92,057,000 and the aggregate gross unrealized depreciation is approximately $11,847,000, resulting in net unrealized appreciation of approximately $80,210,000.

 



 

Portfolio Composition

 

Classification

 

Percentage of
Total Investments

 

Other*

 

43.1

%

Pharmaceuticals

 

14.5

 

Banks

 

8.8

 

Insurance

 

6.6

 

Household Durables

 

6.4

 

Transportation Infrastructure

 

5.4

 

Real Estate Management & Development

 

5.2

 

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure

 

5.0

 

Electrical Equipment

 

5.0

 

Total Investments

 

100.0

%

 


*       Industries and/or investment types representing less than 5% of total investments.

 



 

Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc.

 

Notes to the Portfolio of Investments · September 30, 2017 (unaudited)

 

Security Valuation: (1) An equity portfolio security listed or traded on an exchange is valued at its latest reported sales price (or at the exchange official closing price if such exchange reports an official closing price), and if there were no sales on a given day and if there is no official exchange closing price for that day, the security is valued at the mean between the last reported bid and asked prices if such bid and asked prices are available on the relevant exchanges. Listed equity securities not traded on the valuation date with no reported bid and asked prices available on the exchange are valued at the mean between the current bid and asked prices obtained from one or more reputable brokers or dealers. In cases where a security is traded on more than one exchange, the security is valued on the exchange designated as the primary market; (2) all other equity portfolio securities for which over-the-counter (“OTC”) market quotations are readily available are valued at the latest reported sales price (or at the market official closing price if such market reports an official closing price), and if there was no trading in the security on a given day and if there is no official closing price from relevant markets for that day, the security is valued at the mean between the last reported bid and asked prices if such bid and asked prices are available on the relevant markets. An unlisted equity security that does not trade on the valuation date and for which bid and asked prices from the relevant markets are unavailable is valued at the mean between the current bid and asked prices obtained from one or more reputable brokers or dealers; (3) certain portfolio securities may be valued by an outside pricing service/vendor approved by the Fund’s Board of Directors (the “Directors”). The pricing service/vendor may employ a pricing model that takes into account, among other things, bids, yield spreads, and/or other market data and specific security characteristics. Alternatively, if a valuation is not available from an outside pricing service/vendor, and the security trades on an exchange, the security may be valued at its latest reported sale price (or at the exchange official closing price if such exchange reports an official closing price), prior to the time when assets are valued. If there are no sales on a given day and if there is no official exchange closing price for that day, the security is valued at the mean between the last reported bid and asked prices if such bid and asked prices are available in the relevant exchanges; (4) when market quotations are not readily available, including circumstances under which Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. (the “Adviser”) or Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company (“MSIM Company”) (the “Sub-Adviser”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, determines that the closing price, last sale price or the mean between the last reported bid and asked prices are not reflective of a security’s market value, portfolio securities are valued at their fair value as determined in good faith under procedures established by and under the general supervision of the  Directors. Occasionally, developments affecting the closing prices of securities and other assets may occur between the times at which valuations of such securities are determined (that is, close of the foreign market on which the securities trade) and the close of business of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”).  If developments occur during such periods that are expected to materially affect the value of such securities, such valuations may be adjusted to reflect the estimated fair value of such securities as of the close of the NYSE, as determined in good faith by the Directors or by the Adviser using a pricing service and/or procedures approved by the Directors; (5) quotations of foreign portfolio securities, other assets and liabilities and forward contracts stated in foreign currency are translated into U.S. dollar equivalents at the prevailing market rates prior to the close of the NYSE; and (6) investments in mutual funds, including the Morgan Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds, are valued at the net asset value as of the close of each business day.

 

The Directors have responsibility for determining in good faith the fair value of the investments, and the Directors may appoint others, such as the Fund’s Adviser or a valuation committee, to assist the Directors in determining fair value and to make the actual calculations pursuant to the fair valuation methodologies previously approved by the Directors. Under procedures approved by the Directors, the Fund’s Adviser has formed a Valuation Committee whose members are approved by the Directors. The Valuation Committee provides administration and oversight of the Fund’s valuation policies and procedures, which are reviewed at least annually by the Directors. These procedures allow the Fund to utilize independent pricing services, quotations from securities and financial instrument dealers, and other market sources to determine fair value.

 

The Fund has procedures to determine the fair value of securities and other financial instruments for which market prices are not readily available. Under these procedures, the Valuation Committee convenes on a regular and ad hoc basis to review such securities and considers a number of factors, including valuation methodologies and significant unobservable valuation inputs, when arriving at fair value. The Valuation Committee may employ a market-based

 



 

approach which may use related or comparable assets or liabilities, recent transactions, market multiples, book values, and other relevant information for the investment to determine the fair value of the investment. An income-based valuation approach may also be used in which the anticipated future cash flows of the investment are discounted to calculate fair value. Discounts may also be applied due to the nature or duration of any restrictions on the disposition of the investments. Due to the inherent uncertainty of valuations of such investments, the fair values may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had an active market existed. The Valuation Committee employs various methods for calibrating these valuation approaches including a regular review of valuation methodologies, key inputs and assumptions, transactional back-testing or disposition analysis, and reviews of any related market activity.

 

Fair Value Measurement: Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards CodificationTM (“ASC”) 820, “Fair Value Measurement” (“ASC 820”), defines fair value as the value that the Fund would receive to sell an investment or pay to transfer a liability in a timely transaction with an independent buyer in the principal market, or in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market for the investment or liability. ASC 820 establishes a three-tier hierarchy to distinguish between (1) inputs that reflect the assumptions market participants would use in valuing an asset or liability developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity (observable inputs) and (2) inputs that reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in valuing an asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances (unobservable inputs) and to establish classification of fair value measurements for disclosure purposes. Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments. The inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below.

 

·  Level 1 — unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical investments

 

·  Level 2 — other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.)

 

·  Level 3 — significant unobservable inputs including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments.  Factors considered in making this determination may include, but are not limited to, information obtained by contacting the issuer, analysts, or the appropriate stock exchange (for exchange-traded securities), analysis of the issuer’s financial statements or other available documents and, if necessary, available information concerning other securities in similar circumstances

 

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities and the determination of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment and considers factors specific to each security.

 

The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2017.

 

Investment Type

 

Level 1
Unadjusted
quoted
prices
(000)

 

Level 2
Other
significant
observable
inputs
(000)

 

Level 3
Significant
unobservable
inputs
(000)

 

Total
(000)

 

Assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common Stocks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerospace & Defense

 

$

12,017

 

$

 

$

 

$

12,017

 

Automobiles

 

15,664

 

 

 

15,664

 

Banks

 

51,720

 

 

 

51,720

 

Beverages

 

24,366

 

 

 

24,366

 

Capital Markets

 

24,455

 

 

 

24,455

 

Commercial Services & Supplies

 

21,239

 

 

 

21,239

 

Electrical Equipment

 

29,138

 

 

 

29,138

 

Food & Staples Retailing

 

5,678

 

 

 

5,678

 

Food Products

 

21,354

 

 

 

21,354

 

Health Care Providers & Services

 

10,584

 

 

 

10,584

 

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure

 

29,490

 

 

 

29,490

 

Household Durables

 

37,266

 

 

 

37,266

 

Information Technology Services

 

13,368

 

 

 

13,368

 

Insurance

 

38,388

 

 

 

38,388

 

Media

 

18,904

 

 

 

18,904

 

Multi-Line Retail

 

5,687

 

 

 

5,687

 

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

 

7,888

 

 

 

7,888

 

Personal Products

 

 

13,922

 

 

13,922

 

Pharmaceuticals

 

84,893

 

 

 

84,893

 

Professional Services

 

13,015

 

 

 

13,015

 

Real Estate Management & Development

 

30,674

 

 

 

30,674

 

Road & Rail

 

12,228

 

 

 

12,228

 

Software

 

23,526

 

 

 

23,526

 

Transportation Infrastructure

 

31,808

 

 

 

31,808

 

Total Common Stocks

 

563,350

 

13,922

 

 

577,272

 

Short-Term Investment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment Company

 

8,516

 

 

 

8,516

 

Total Assets

 

$

571,866

 

$

13,922

 

$

 

$

585,788

 

 

Transfers between investment levels may occur as the markets fluctuate and/or the availability of data used in an investment’s valuation changes. The Fund recognizes transfers between the levels as of the end of the period. As of September 30, 2017, securities with a total value of approximately $5,687,000 transferred from Level 2 to Level 1. Securities that were valued using other significant observable inputs at December 31, 2016 were valued using unadjusted quoted prices at September 30, 2017.

 



 

Item 2.  Controls and Procedures.

 

(a) The Fund’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that the Fund’s disclosure controls and procedures are sufficient to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Fund in this Form N-Q was recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, based upon such officers’ evaluation of these controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of the report.

 

(b)  There were no changes in the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

Item 3.  Exhibits.

 

(a) A separate certification for each principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the registrant are attached hereto.

 



 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc.

 

 

 

/s/ John H. Gernon

 

John H. Gernon

 

Principal Executive Officer

 

November 16, 2017

 

 

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

 

/s/ John H. Gernon

 

John H. Gernon

 

Principal Executive Officer

 

November 16, 2017

 

 

 

/s/ Francis Smith

 

Francis Smith

 

Principal Financial Officer

 

November 16, 2017