Chinese government bonds are headed for a fourth weekly advance, with the benchmark 10-year yield dropping to a seven-year low, on concern the nation’s economy is slowing and as corporate failures increase. The 20 and 30-year sovereign yields declined to 3.10 per cent and 3.25 per cent, respectively, the lowest for both since Bloomberg started compiling the data in 2006. Chinese sovereign bonds have benefited from overseas inflows, with foreign investors boosting their holdings of onshore debt by the most in two years in June, after the nation eased access to domestic markets.

China needs to reduce its reliance on credit-fueled investment, and deal with rising corporate debt and other imbalances while those problems are still manageable, the International Monetary Fund urged Friday in its annual review of the world’s second-largest economy, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Australian Tax Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission have conducted raids on 13 businesses and residences across the country in a bid to crack down on “pre-insolvency” firms that advise clients on how to avoid tax, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Some 120 ATO officers teamed up with their ASIC counterparts on Thursday to collect documents and records from the Melbourne and Gold Coast properties, which are linked to two advice firms that authorities allege are encouraging and facilitating tax avoidance, GST evasion, and “phoenix” activity.

As record numbers of elderly Japanese struggle with poverty, Yoshitsugu Shimizu’s life embodies a path that feeds widespread anxiety. The former leather-goods entrepreneur declared bankruptcy about a decade ago and later divorced. He now lives on welfare in a 55-square-foot room in the city’s Kotobukicho district, populated by cheap hostels and groups of old men socializing with drinks in hand. “I never imagined I’d be in this situation,” the 63-year-old said. Mr. Shimizu is among a growing number of older Japanese living in poverty.

New economic data for China broken down by region shines a light on how uneven growth is around the country and how the nation’s statistics are still suspect, The Wall Street Journal reported. The figures that have trickled out in recent days, measuring gross domestic product in the first half of 2016 by individual province, have revived old questions over China’s statistical methodology.

After July’s attempted coup, Turkish ministers, officials and trade bodies have been scrambling to show that the world’s 17th largest economy is on a sound footing by meeting investors, advertising in western media including the Financial Times, and announcing a slew of measures aimed at building confidence. They are anxious to reassure markets and investors and, crucially the rating agencies, after Moody’s warned it could downgrade Turkey’s sovereign debt rating to junk status.

Raghuram Rajan, India’s outgoing central bank governor, said in his final monetary policy statement that he was “comfortable” with recent progress made in cleaning up India’s banking system, but urged banks and over-indebted industrialists to keep up the effort to resolve their bad debt problems, the Financial Times reported. His comments come amid speculation over who will take the helm of the Reserve Bank of India after Mr Rajan steps down next month.

A Chinese shipbuilder failed to make a bond payment due Monday, becoming the second such company to default in the onshore market this year. Wuhan Guoyu Logistics Industry Group Co., which is based in the central province of Hubei, didn’t transfer funds for interest and principal payment to the Shanghai Clearing House before the due time, according to a statement Monday. The firm issued the 400 million yuan ($60 million) of one-year bonds at 7 percent in 2015.

China's exports and imports fell more than expected in July in a rocky start to the third quarter, pointing to further weakness in global demand in the aftermath of Britain's decision to leave the European Union, The International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Imports fell 12.5 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since February and suggesting China's domestic demand may be faltering despite a flurry of measures to stimulate economic growth. "I think (the drop in imports) is mainly from the demand side," said Ma Xiaoping, an economist at HSBC in Beijing.

Singapore Inc is facing mounting concerns as the city-state’s long-successful oil and gas sector turns sour with the oil price slump, the Financial Times reported. Oil and gas services have been a lucrative niche for the country. It is the world’s biggest maker of jack-up rigs, which are used to drill for oil in shallow ocean waters. But the plunging price of oil, currently hovering around $40 a barrel, has turned this strength into a source of economic pain as rig builders have been forced to slash jobs while smaller oil services providers face bankruptcy.