Tax audits and land use inquiries follow company founder announcing run for Taiwan presidency
China’s tax authorities have launched multiple investigations into the company that makes the iPhone, months after its billionaire founder announced he would run in Taiwan’s presidential elections.
Foxconn faces tax audits of its operations in China, as well as investigations into land use in two Chinese provinces, according to reports by local media.
Continue reading...Property developer denies claims founder and chair have left country amid reports it missed key deadline
The crisis in China’s property sector deepened as Country Garden, the country’s biggest developer by sales, reportedly missed its final deadline for an interest payment on a dollar bond, putting it at risk of default.
The company, which has about $200bn (£163bn) in liabilities and nearly $11bn in dollar-denominated offshore bonds, was due to make a $15.4m coupon repayment this week, but failed to do so, according to reports. Its share price fell 4% in Hong Kong on Thursday, and is down 74% since the beginning of the year.
Continue reading...Government stimulus gains some traction in third quarter as property downturn continues
China’s economy grew at a faster than expected rate in the third quarter, suggesting the recent flurry of policy measures is helping to bolster a tentative recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Rapidly weakening growth in China since the second quarter has prompted authorities to step up support, with Wednesday’s data indicating the stimulus is starting to gain traction, although a property crisis and other problems continue to pose risks.
Continue reading...Liu Liange charged with accepting bribes and illegally granting loans amid country’s anti-corruption drive
China has arrested the former head of one of the country’s largest commercial banks on charges of accepting bribes and illegally granting loans, amid a two-year anti-corruption drive targeting the financial sector.
China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which is investigating corruption within the ruling Communist party, said on Monday that Liu Liange had been arrested, after announcing the start of the investigation in March.
Continue reading...Property developer has about $200bn in liabilities and says its sales are ‘under remarkable pressure’
China’s largest private developer has warned it could default on its international debts, dealing another blow to the country’s embattled property industry.
Country Garden has about $200bn (£163bn) in liabilities and nearly $11bn in dollar-denominated offshore bonds. It has not defaulted so far, but has missed coupon payments on some dollar bonds since last month and faces the end of 30-day grace periods for making payments from next week.
Continue reading...Slow domestic consumption, high youth unemployment and decline in exports among factors dragging on post-Covid recovery
China’s consumer price index rebounded in August as the world’s second-largest economy emerged from deflation, official data released on Saturday suggested, despite sluggish domestic consumption that is complicating its post-Covid economic recovery.
Last month’s CPI, the main gauge of inflation, rose 0.1% year on year, the national statistics bureau said.
Continue reading...Fresh signs of weakness in Chinese economy and weak UK and eurozone data spook investors
Fears about the health of the global economy have intensified following downbeat news about service sector activity in China, the eurozone and the UK.
Share prices fell in Asia and the pound dropped to a 12-week low against the US dollar after fresh signs of weakness in China triggered speculation that its post-lockdown recovery was running out of steam.
Continue reading...European stocks hit three-week high as China’s government tries to prop up ailing economy
The share price of the ailing Chinese developer Country Garden has jumped by as much as a fifth after its creditors agreed a delay on debt repayments, offering some respite from the country’s crisis-hit property market.
The company agreed over the weekend to extend the payment dates on a 3.9bn yuan (£430m) private bond, to the relief of investors who had thought it would default on payments due on Saturday. Country Garden will instead have three years to repay the debt, after it won a narrow vote with the backing of 56% of its creditors, Reuters reported.
Continue reading...World’s biggest carbon emitter approving equivalent of two new coal plants a week, analysis shows
China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets.
The government has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, and in 2021 the president, Xi Jinping, promised to stop building coal powered plants.
Continue reading...Property developer’s value fell by more than $2bn as stock resumed trading after 17-month suspension
Shares in Evergrande fell a further 13% on Tuesday after more than $2bn was wiped off the Chinese property developer’s market value when it resumed trading for the first time in almost 18 months on Monday.
Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property firm with liabilities of $328bn (£260bn), has lost more than 99% of its share market value over the past three years.
Continue reading...Central bank reduces one-year loan prime rate but surprises analysts by leaving five-year rate unchanged
China’s central bank has cut one of its key lending rates but left another unchanged, surprising economists who had expected more forceful action to support economic growth amid widespread concerns over its path.
The world’s second-largest economy is in the midst of a slowdown, and has slipped into deflation with prices falling year on year as slowing domestic spending weighs on the country’s post-Covid economic recovery.
Continue reading...Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy protection and firms covering 40% of Chinese home sales have defaulted
China’s property crisis has deepened with two major developers facing severe financial difficulties that threaten to send shock waves through the country’s economy and beyond.
Evergrande, the poster child for the woes of China’s property sector, filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York on Thursday. The provision permits the company to protect its US assets and will allow cross-border bankruptcy proceedings as it undergoes a restructuring.
Continue reading...The company’s chapter 15 protection will protect its US assets while it attempts a restructuring deal
China’s Evergrande Group, the world’s most heavily indebted property developer and the poster child for the country’s property crisis, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court.
The company sought protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which protects its US assets while it attempts a restructuring deal. The code also provides mechanisms for dealing with insolvency cases involving more than one country.
Continue reading...What might Chinese deflation mean for interest rates, commodity prices and even EV exports outside China?
When Australia’s central bank released its quarterly economic update last week, China’s “uncertain” economic outlook topped a list of domestic worries for Australia.
The International Monetary Fund too singled out China in its latest world economic outlook as among the “downside” tilts to its balance of risks.
Continue reading...Data shows the economy grew just 0.8% in the June quarter, down from 2.2% in the first three months of 2023
China’s economy expanded 6.3% in the second quarter from a year ago, falling short of market expectations as export demand remained tepid and sinking property prices sapped consumer confidence.
Compared with a year earlier, China’s GDP in the April-June period was 6.3% larger, the national bureau of statistics said on Monday, quickening from the 4.5% annual growth pace for the first three months of 2023. Economists had forecast growth to accelerate to 7.3%, according to a Reuters survey.
Continue reading...Fatih Birol says China’s economic recovery combined with harsh winter could pile pressure on gas supplies
The head of the International Energy Agency has said energy prices may spike again this winter, forcing government to subsidise bills – just days after state support for UK households fell away.
Fatih Birol said a rapid improvement in the Chinese economy, coupled with a harsh winter, could put pressure on gas supplies and push up bills for consumers.
Continue reading...UK’s largest stock-market-listed firm weighs up Hong Kong or Shanghai listing to shield it from geopolitical tensions
AstraZeneca is considering spinning off its business in China and listing it in Hong Kong or Shanghai to shield the multinational drugmaker from geopolitical tensions.
Britain’s largest stock-market-listed company has drawn up the plans in attempt to protect its business from the fallout from increasing tensions between China and the US and its allies.
Continue reading...Pascal Soriot says decline in startups across Europe differs markedly from ‘explosion’ of firms and clinical trials in China
The boss of Britain’s biggest drugmaker has said that the UK and the rest of Europe are falling behind China and the US in the creation of biotech firms and clinical trials of new medicines.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said that while China had seen an “explosion of biotech companies”, and a “rapid expansion of clinical trials” that puts it ahead of the US, the UK and EU had posted declines.
Continue reading...Authorities will resume issuing all visas after closing borders to international holidaymakers in 2020
China will reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in the three years since the Covid pandemic erupted by allowing all categories of visas to be issued.
The removal of this last cross-border control measure on Wednesday comes after authorities declared victory over the virus last month.
Continue reading...Coronation sets up Xi, who has overseen consolidation of power, to become modern China’s longest-serving head of state
Xi Jinping has been handed an unprecedented third term as president, capping an ascent in which he has become China’s most powerful leader in generations.
In a carefully choreographed ceremony in Beijing, Xi held up his right fist and placed his left hand on a red leather copy of China’s constitution. In the oath – beamed live on state television across China – he vowed to “build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and great modern socialist country”.
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