7,430 MILES separate the London and Shanghai Stock Exchanges, according to Google, writes Brewin Dolphin's Jeffrey Ball.

Yet when it comes to investments, they have never been closer.

The constant encroachment of globalisation means the leading stock markets are increasingly linked.

A bad session in Asia typically ripples across to Europe and then jumps the Atlantic to the US before the daily cycle starts again.

Lately, China has replaced Greece as the largest source of uncertainty for investors.

Interventions by its government, coupled with investing becoming a new hobby for millions of amateurs, has led to staggering volatility in the Chinese market.

In June, the Shanghai Composite Index breached 5,100 points, taking its gain in the previous twelve months to an astounding 150 per cent.

Since then, despite the best efforts of the authorities, they have been unable to stem a sharp stock market decline.

It has fallen by around a third with huge intra-day changes becoming the norm.

Just recently, for example, we saw a six per cent fall, followed by a six per cent swing on, with the market oscillating from per cent down in early trading to ending the day up one per cent.

On both days, a lot of Shanghai listed companies, including some large state-owned firms, fell by the maximum daily limit of ten per cent, and saw trading in their shares suspended.

An already choppy market has not been helped by the Chinese central bank deciding to de-value the Chinese currency to try and boost exports and help its slowing economy.

For Western investors, arguably the slowdown in the economy is of more concern than the wildly swinging stock market.

Latest figures show economic growth is hitting its target of seven per cent, but this is down from 7.3 per cent at the end of 2014 and Chinese demand for commodities is falling as a result.

Confidence is suffering as China makes the difficult transition to a mature economy.

The deceleration of the Chinese economy, the second largest in the world, will inevitably create waves, both locally, as the pace of growth slows, and further afield, as overseas markets struggle to compete with cheaper Chinese goods.

What then does this mean for the UK investor?

The FTSE 100 Index may now be down at the 6,300 level after passing 7,000 points earlier this year, but remember it is a commodity-skewed index.

Opportunities can be found in the many non-commodity sectors that have been dragged down in the general sell off and are now much cheaper than they were even a few months ago.

For many companies conditions not only remain unchanged but may have actually improved as the price of oil and other raw materials they depend upon has fallen.

The more UK-centric FTSE 250 Mid Cap and FTSE Small Cap Indices both have much less in commodities, have both been benefiting from an improving UK economy and consequently have both outperformed the FTSE 100 Index.

Let’s not forget too, a typical UK investor does not have a lot of exposure to China anyway, and what they do have is likely to be a small portion of their overall portfolio through an Asia-focused fund, invested in a spread of companies that diversify the exposure and thus the risk even further.

That is the secret.

They say when China sneezes the world catches a cold, so a diversified portfolio of developed world equities, bonds and alternatives should provide a suitable tonic.