Asia Pacific

China’s main task is to restructure its economy rather than worrying about the recent slump in stock prices, a German finance ministry official said Thursday, calling on the Asian giant to focus on strengthening domestic demand, The Wall Street Journal reported. “The recent discussions about stock-market turbulences are rather a side issue,” said the official during a briefing on next week’s meeting of the International Monetary Fund and Group of 20 nations in Lima, Peru.

The world economy lost momentum in September, with China’s vast factory sector shrinking again and euro zone manufacturing growth weakening slightly, both casualties of waning global demand. The latest business surveys across Asia and Europe paint a darkening picture and are likely to prompt more calls for central banks around the world to loosen monetary policy even further, The Globe and Mail reported.

Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC), which operates a large petrochemicals complex in Singapore, has gone into receivership because of debt problems, according to its restructuring firm and a filing with Singapore's accounting authority. JAC's debt problems mounted in recent months after it halted production in December to fix a technical issue. The company is the latest victim of a global commodities rout which has seen a Japanese shipper filing for bankruptcy on Tuesday and lower profits at global trading firm Louis Dreyfus.

China’s stock market crash and economic slowdown appear to be keeping globe-trotting Chinese tourists closer to home, potentially hurting the global travel industry and the luxury goods companies that have thrived on free-spending tour groups, The Wall Street Journal reported. Growth in international travel bookings from China fell in August for the first time since at least 2010 and continued to decline through September, despite the start of a big holiday week, according to ForwardKeys, a Spain-based travel intelligence company that analyzes Chinese airline booking data.

Shares of Daiichi Chuo KK, a Japanese shipping line, were halted from trading in Tokyo after the Nikkei newspaper reported the company may seek bankruptcy protection as early as Tuesday. The company’s liabilities may be about 120 billion yen ($1 billion), the newspaper reported. The Tokyo-based company, which mainly does tramp services carrying bulk cargoes such as iron core, coal and grains, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the Nikkei report. Shares of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., the largest shareholder of Daiichi Chuo, slumped as much as 7.4 percent after the report.

A brokerage report Friday saying the parent of China National Erzhong Group Co. won’t pay bond interest due today is prompting speculation over whether the smelting equipment maker will become China’s second state-owned company to default on onshore bonds, Bloomberg News reported. Analysts from China International Capital Corp. said the firm’s controlling shareholder China National Machinery Industry Corp.

Britain's second-biggest steelmaker SSI UK said on Monday it plans to mothball its Redcar plant in northeast England and axe about 1,700 jobs, calling its future into question and deepening a crisis in the British steel sector. The loss-making company, a unit of Thailand's biggest steelmaker Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), has been hit by a slump in steel prices this year ST-CRU-IDX, which it expects will continue in the short term. The Redcar plant, SSI's only British operation, employs 2,000 people directly, meaning it plans to axe nearly its entire workforce.

Shinzo Abe has vowed to boost the size of Japan’s economy from Y491tn to Y600tn and said his programme of reforms was entering a new, second stage, the Financial Times reported. The Japanese prime minister was speaking after his Liberal Democratic party elected him, unopposed, to a second three-year term as its leader, making him one of the few postwar premiers to head a durable government.

When Mark L. Hart III, a hedge fund investor based in Texas, makes an investment bet, he does it in the style of his home state: big time, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Since 2007, his winners have included high-risk, high-return wagers that the United States housing market would collapse and that Greece would go bankrupt. But Mr. Hart’s most audacious gamble to date may well be the one he is making on China.

After its bond payment default, Amtek Auto is likely to find it difficult to get more funding from lenders, the Business Standard reported. Loans given earlier to the Delhi-based automobile components maker are now classified as Special Mention Account-2, where interest and/or principal are due since 60 days. A loan is classified as non-performing if not serviced for at least 90 days.