REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG/AMSTERDAM, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Global investors fleeing China have one simple message for the country's leadership: put prudence aside for a short while, and start spending big. "At this point there is confusion and, as long as there is confusion, then there's lack of credibility and that means investors are more likely to stay away," said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Global Investors in London. Prominent examples are heavy Chinese government spending during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and its swift intervention during the 2015 market crash. But the subsidies need to come from local governments, many of which are cash-strapped or even drowning in debt and unable to pay their civil servants. The lack of concrete stimulus measures now is prompting many China watchers to downgrade their growth estimates for the next few years.

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Persons: Aly, China's, Seema Shah, Chen Zhao, Zhao, hasn't, Frederik Ducrozet, Ducrozet, Principal's Shah, Yan Wang, Xi Jinping's, we’ve, Lorraine Tan, Dhara Ranasinghe, Davide Barbuscia, Yoruk, Xie Yu, Ankur Banerjee, Tom Westbrook, Li Gu, Vidya Ranganathan, Kim Coghill Organizations: REUTERS, Global, Global Investors, policymaking Politburo, Pictet Wealth Management, Local, UBS Bank, Federated Hermes, Foreigners, Asia, Morningstar, Thomson Locations: Huangpu, Shanghai, China, HONG KONG, AMSTERDAM, London, Beijing, Japan, United States, New York, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Singapore