China

China is attempting to resolve its “epic” real estate dispute. The task is only getting started.
21May By Online DeskNo Comments
China

China is attempting to resolve its “epic” real estate dispute. The task is only getting started.

Beijing has launched its most ambitious plan yet to rescue its property market, a development that investors have eagerly anticipated for months. But it’s far from certain that the measures will work. The package is centered around Beijing’s adoption of a policy that has already been tested in a major city — asking local governments to buy unsold homes from developers and convert them into social affordable housing. It also features a reduction in mortgage interest rates and downpayment ratios, and more importantly, 300 billion yuan ($41.5 billion) in cheap central bank cash to fund state purchases of unsold properties. The announcement last week swiftly followed an April meeting of the Politburo, China’s top ruling body, indicating that stabilizing the property sector has become a ...
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20May By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

UK cannot afford to give ‘cold shoulder’ to China, says City minister

The UK cannot afford to give the “cold shoulder” to China, the City minister said on Monday, in comments that will distance the British government from the Biden administration’s protectionist crackdown. Addressing financial services bosses at the City Week conference in London’s Guildhall, Bim Afolami said it was “crucial” to engage with strategic competitors such as Beijing, and that the UK risked losing control of its economic future if it failed to find common ground. “Like with any bilateral relationship, we don’t agree on everything, [but] we are very clear that you simply cannot give the cold shoulder to an economy that is home to a fifth of the world’s globally systemic important banks, four of the world’s largest banks, and almost a third of the world’s leading global finan...
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20May By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

Navigating Uncertain Waters: China’s E-CNY Expansion Overseas And The Quest For Global Payment Influence

In recent years, China has embarked on an ambitious journey to redefine its role in the global financial landscape, leveraging technological advancements to potentially reshape how global transactions are conducted. Central to this initiative is the pilot program for the e-CNY, China's digital currency, which is now making its way into overseas markets, notably in Hong Kong, for retail use which was announced in May 2024. This move mirrors China's previous efforts to expand the reach of its payment solutions, such as UnionPay and Alipay, which have had mixed success abroad. The path forward for the e-CNY is shrouded in uncertainty. The introduction of a state-backed digital currency on an international scale presents a myriad of technological, regulatory, and geopolitical challenges...
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15May By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market, World

Alibaba’s Hong Kong primary listing plan can open the doors to China’s 210 million investors

Alibaba Group Holding is paving the way for China’s 210 million investors to buy a stake in the e-commerce giant as it pushes ahead with a plan for a primary listing of its shares in Hong Kong, Asia’s third-largest stock market. The process, expected to be completed by end-August, is a prerequisite to be included in the cross-border exchange link programme and will allow the US$400 billion company to leverage on its visibility and investor familiarity in the world’s second-largest economy. The Hangzhou-based company, whose shares are not listed on mainland China, disclosed a progress report on the plan while unveiling its financial results for the financial year that ended in March with JPMorgan Chase saying Alibaba’s shares could be included in the Stock Connect scheme by September...
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14May By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market, USA

Biden slaps new tariffs on Chinese imports, ratcheting trade war

President Joe Biden has slapped major new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminium and medical equipment, taking potshots at Donald Trump along the way as he embraced a strategy that’s increasing friction between the world’s two largest economies. The Democratic president said on Tuesday that Chinese government subsidies ensure the nation’s companies do not have to turn a profit, giving them an unfair advantage in global trade. “American workers can outwork and outcompete anyone as long as the competition is fair,” Biden said in the White House Rose Garden. “But for too long, it hasn’t been fair. For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies … it’s not competition, it’s cheating.” China immediately p...
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14May By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market, USA, World

Biden announces $18bn tariff hikes on Chinese imports

US President Joe Biden announced a series of tariff increases on various Chinese imports, including electric vehicles, computer chips, and medical products. This move risks an election-year standoff with Beijing as Biden aims to appeal to voters critical of his economic policies. Biden will maintain tariffs introduced by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, while increasing others. The White House stated that this decision is due to “unacceptable risks” to US “economic security” from what it sees as unfair Chinese practices that flood global markets with cheap goods. The new measures affect $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, including steel and aluminium, semiconductors, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells, and cranes, according to the White House. In 2023...
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13May By Online DeskNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

Bangladesh interested in China’s offer of loans in yuan

China has expressed its interest in extending a large amount of loans in its own currency, the yuan, and Bangladesh is exploring ways to accept and make its best use amid ongoing financial woes. The authorities in Bangladesh have already initiated discussions to formulate a set of specific proposals to China in this regard. The US dollar is now the medium of exchange for bilateral trades with China, and Bangladesh is now mulling settlement of the import liabilities using loans obtained in yuan. China is now the largest source of imports for Bangladesh. The authorities believe that the loan may play a crucial role in addressing the dwindling forex reserves in Bangladesh. It was learnt that China aims to offer more than CNY 36 billion – equivalent to $5 billion – in the form of a ‘...
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10May By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market, World

China’s Ping An sells HSBC shares in US$50 million tantrum after reported protest vote against CEO Noel Quinn

China’s largest insurer Ping An Insurance (Group) has sold HK$392 million (US$50 million) worth of its shares in London-based HSBC in an apparent tantrum days after reports that the bank’s largest shareholder voted against the reappointment of the lender’s departing CEO Noel Quinn as a director. Ping An sold 5,648,800 shares of HSBC, the largest of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing banks, at an average price of HK$69.3074 on May 7, lowering its stake in the lender to 7.98 per cent from 8.01 per cent, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday. Ping An, HSBC’s largest shareholder, lodged a protest vote against Quinn’s leadership at a general shareholder meeting on May 3, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. Quinn was reelect...
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9May By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market

China: Chase the rally or fade the bounce?

Since peak post-COVID reopening optimism in early 2023, Chinese equities lost over a third of their value, as investors digested worries around a worsening real estate downturn, persistent geopolitical risks and issues around longer-term growth prospects. Zooming out further, Chinese equities are down over 50% since their 2021 high. Recent rumors and headlines around potentially more substantive policy easing in the property sector, capital market support measures and technical dynamics, have coincided with a sharp rebound since mid-January this year. This has propelled the offshore MSCI China over 20% and the onshore CSI300 over 15%, outperforming regional markets like Japan and India – making the Chinese market among the best performers in the world over this time. This surge has captur...
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8May By Online DeskNo Comments
China, Market, World

Chinese network behind one of world’s ‘largest online scams’

More than 800,000 people in Europe and the US appear to have been duped into sharing card details and other sensitive personal data with a vast network of fake online designer shops apparently operated from China. An international investigation by the Guardian, Die Zeit and Le Monde gives a rare inside look at the mechanics of what the UK’s Chartered Trading Standards Institute has described as one of the largest scams of its kind, with 76,000 fake websites created. A trove of data examined by reporters and IT experts indicates the operation is highly organised, technically savvy – and ongoing. Operating on an industrial scale, programmers have created tens of thousands of fake web shops offering discounted goods from Dior, Nike, Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Versace and Pra...
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