Two weeks into 2019, five Chinese companies are already likely to default on 3.5 billion yuan (US$446.25 million) worth of debt, after a record US$17 billion default wave took the country by storm in 2018 amid a worsening economic slowdown and soaring refinancing costs facing the cash-starved private sector, the South China Morning Post reported.

John Authers wrote earlier this week about how China will help set the course of U.S. stocks for a while. The unfortunate catch is that China’s economy is clearly in trouble, a Bloomberg View reported. Wall Street seems to hang much of that on President Donald Trump’s trade war, which certainly doesn’t help. But there are disturbing signs China’s problems have deep roots, Noah Smith writes. Ever since the financial crisis, he notes, China’s productivity has been weak. This, along with flagging population growth, is a toxic economic combo.

In a related story, Reuters reported that Etihad Airways has offered to invest in debt-laden Indian carrier Jet Airways Ltd at 150 rupees ($2.11) per share, along with an immediate release of $35 million after certain conditions are met, CNBC-TV18 reported here on Wednesday, citing sources. The offer comes at a staggering 49 percent discount to Jet’s closing price of 293.70 rupees on Tuesday. Jet Airways shares tumbled after the report, falling as much as 7.5 percent to 271.75 rupees in their biggest intraday percentage loss since Dec. 10, 2018.

Jet Airways India Ltd. is working with lenders to revamp its debt as the struggling carrier tries to shore up its financials after recording losses in nine of the past eleven years in a market known for ultra-low fares, Bloomberg News reported. The carrier is working on “various options on the debt-equity mix, proportion of equity infusion,” the Mumbai-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Among options considered by the lenders led by State Bank of India Ltd.

China’s smaller banks, among the hardest hit by President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on risky financing, are set for a tougher 2019 as authorities force them to shut business lines that once powered profit growth, Bloomberg News reported. Authorities have ordered the nation’s provincial lenders to limit business to the region they’re based in, or wind down by the end of this year, and have said that some banks expand “blindly.” The new rules will contribute to lower profits at the small banks, which are already overvalued when compared with bigger rivals, according to analysts.

China’s surprisingly weak trade data brought a four-day rally in European shares to a halt on Monday, with luxury goods and technology stocks leading the drop as investors fretted about slowing global growth and weaker-than-expected earnings, The Irish Times reported. Trading volumes fell below average on the Irish market on Monday with the Iseq overall index dipping 0.54 per cent. The smaller Iseq 20 index was led lower by Swiss-Irish baking group Aryzta which dropped 8.4 per cent to €1.05. Traders noted the stock has been quite volatile of late, moving between 95c and €1.15.

Shares in Jet Airways, the troubled Indian airline, jumped nearly 16 per cent on Monday after local media reported that it was poised to agree on a resolution plan this week, with shareholder Etihad Airways pumping in new capital, the Financial Times reported. Jet has been locked in financial crisis for months, after a jump in oil prices last year further weakened a business already strained by intense competition from Indian budget airlines.

UBS Asset Management has turned bullish on beaten down Asia junk dollar bonds and expects investors to buy more on borrowed money due to the appeal of higher yields, Bloomberg News reported. The firm is positive on such securities from Chinese property companies in particular, its key overweight globally within high yield. The money manager expects China’s stimulus measures to help borrowers gain access to funding onshore, reducing offshore bond sales. Despite a recent rally in Asia junk securities, yields are still near the highest since 2012, according to a Bloomberg Barclays Index.

Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk is in talks to sell some of Europe’s most famous luxury hotels to the investment firm owned by Dubai’s ruler as part of a debt restructuring, people with knowledge of the matter said. The discussions involve properties including the historic Capri Palace in Italy, the Aldrovandi Villa Borghese in Rome and Istanbul’s Grand Hyatt, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private, Bloomberg News reported. Dubai Holding is doing due diligence on the Capri Palace and Aldrovandi, one of the people said.

China’s banks’ urgent want for cash is threatening to overload the country’s fledgling convertible-bond market. Four lenders are due to sell as much as 146 billion yuan ($22 billion) of the hybrid securities by the end of June after the regulator approved the deals in recent weeks, Bloomberg News reported. That includes what could be the largest such offering China’s domestic market has ever seen: Bank of Communications Co.’s 60 billion yuan issue. The fundraising total would be twice the amount raised in all of 2018, data compiled by Bloomberg show.