Asia Pacific

Industrial Bank Co. and Huaxia Bank Co. asked Baoding Tianwei Group Co., a Chinese maker of power transformers, to repay two bonds early after it became the first state-owned enterprise to default on onshore debt in April, Bloomberg News reported. Industrial Bank is seeking 793 million yuan ($125 million) in principal and interest while Huaxia Bank has asked for 248 million yuan, according to Baoding Tianwei’s statement on the Chinamoney website Monday. The lenders sent requests for the notes due in December and March to the China International Economic & Trade Arbitration Commission.

It is hard to know what represents prudent diversification and what constitutes capital flight on the part of Chinese groups and wealthy travellers, the Financial Times reported in an insight. But for those who track capital outflows from China, the distinction does not much matter. In the four quarters to the end of June, such outflows, (which do not include debt repayment) have totalled more than $500bn according to data from Citigroup.

Loss-making Fortitude Valley-based energy and mining contractor WDS has gone into receivership, The Australian reported. The appointment by WDS’s major secured creditor, GE Commercial, of Quentin Olde and John Park from FTI Consulting as receivers and managers raises job fears for a workforce of 730. The appointment follows WDS requesting a trading halt on August 25 on the basis that it had a contractual issue with one of its customers, the management company for the Vale-led Eagle Downs coal project in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

After a summer of turmoil in the stock and foreign exchange markets, China’s financial and business communities are on edge, the Financial Times reported. Capital outflows and a slowing economy are adding to the unease. The US Federal Reserve’s impending interest rate rise adds another headwind for investors and companies to contend with. The People’s Bank of China’s decision in mid-August to let the renminbi depreciate caught the market by surprise, but among the most plausible theories to explain the move is that it was designed to pre-empt the Fed’s move.

China will loan Venezuela $5bn to boost oil output, the Venezuelan president said in a televised broadcast from Beijing, in a show of continued support for the troubled Latin American economy from one of its main creditors, the Financial Times reported. China has lent $50bn to Venezuela in oil-backed loans secured under former president Hugo Chávez but has become much less enthusiastic about adding to its exposure as the Venezuelan economy has worsened. Venezuela is the eighth-largest oil supplier to China, primarily of heavy crude that trades at lower than benchmark prices.

China’s sudden decision last month to devalue its currency riled neighbors and fueled investors’ fears about a sharp slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy. But the move has won over the International Monetary Fund and even secured restrained praise from the U.S. Treasury Department, The Wall Street Journal reported. The currency maneuver has positioned the Chinese government to press for a greater international role for the yuan during visits to a series of Group of 20 meetings starting this week and a visit to Washington later this month.

South Korean exports in August plunged 14.7% from a year ago, Business Insider reported. This was much worse than the 5.9% decline expected by economists. And it was the biggest drop since August 2009. This is a troubling sign, as Korea's exports represent the world's imports.

China is imposing fresh controls to prevent too much money from leaving the country, in an effort to keep badly needed funds at home to battle a deepening slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The country’s central bank said Tuesday that it will make it more expensive for investors to pressure the yuan to weaken against the U.S. dollar by adding conditions to futures contracts. Some of the country’s largest lenders, including Bank of China Ltd.

Troubled SVOD player Quickflix has again suspended trading in its shares on the stock market as it attempts a restructure and head off potential financial insolvency, mUmBRELLA reported.

Toshiba again delayed announcing its annual financial results on Monday, as new accounting errors prevented the company from drawing a line under Japan’s worst corporate scandal in four years, the Irish Times reported. Toshiba, which was scheduled to post its earnings for the business year ended in March, said the newly discovered problems included incorrect impairment charges on fixed assets at several subsidiaries and improperly timed booking of loss provisions at a US subsidiary.