China’s central bank has warned investors to expect more “two-way volatility” in renminbi trading when foreign exchange markets reopen on Monday, less than a week after a 2 per cent downward “adjustment” sparked a week of roller-coaster trading for the currency, the Financial Times reported. In a statement issued on Sunday, Ma Jun, chief economist at the People’s Bank of China, said the Chinese government had “no intention or need to participate in a ‘currency war’”.

New Zealand's debt-laden state-owned coal mining company Solid Energy Ltd was put into administration on Thursday to ward off its creditors as it looks to organise a sale of assets. The government refused to pump in any more money to support the company, which has been crippled by a slump in prices and demand, amassing a mountain of debt. "It is no secret that Solid Energy has faced significant financial hurdles - both from the falling international coal price and its debt burden," Finance Minister Bill English said in a statement.

For years, China looked like the principled noncombatant. As other countries, seeking to secure an economic advantage, let the value of their currencies slide on international markets, China held firm on the value of its money, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. But this week, China jumped into the fray. In a surprise decision on Tuesday, the country’s authorities devalued its currency, the renminbi, which has now fallen by 4.4 percent against the dollar this week, a huge drop for China.

New Zealand's debt-laden state-owned coal mining company Solid Energy Ltd was put into administration on Thursday to ward off its creditors as it looks to organise a sale of assets. The government refused to pump in any more money to support the company, which has been crippled by a slump in prices and demand, amassing a mountain of debt. "It is no secret that Solid Energy has faced significant financial hurdles - both from the falling international coal price and its debt burden," Finance Minister Bill English said in a statement.

Whenever China’s economy swooned in recent downturns, its currency never buckled. It held steady, or strengthened, even as China’s neighbors or trading partners scrambled to cut the value of their own currencies to deal with the fallout, the International New York Times reported. With the Chinese renminbi now taking its biggest plunge in decades, the worry is that the country’s already slowing economy is even worse off and the government is panicking. By the official measures, the economy is growing at 7 percent, right in line with government targets.

Solid Energy has confirmed it is going into voluntary administration, Stuff.co.nz reported. The state-owned coal company met staff at various sites including the West Coast, Southland and Waikato on Thursday morning, before confirming the news to media in Christchurch at midday. On Thursday, acting chairman Andy Coupe said the board had been considering options since last year due to the "significant" challenges the company was facing. He acknowledged the "very substantial effort" all employees had made over the past few years, but it had not been enough.

Beijing signaled with its currency devaluation that the domestic economic slowdown it has failed to reverse is no longer a problem confined within China’s borders. It is now the world’s problem, too, The Wall Street Journal reported. Chinese officials have cut interest rates four times in the past 12 months, increased the amount of money banks can lend out and pumped funds into the stock market—measures meant to boost domestic demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd said on Monday it would sell non-core assets, and shut down or exit non-essential units as part of restructuring after a multi-billion dollar loss in the April-June quarter, The Economic Times reported. Daewoo Shipbuilding late last month reported a provisional second-quarter operating loss of 3.03 trillion won ($2.61 billion), citing construction delays on offshore projects such as oil and gas rigs.

China’s economy started the second half of the year on a weak note, posting disappointing trade and factory-price data in July amid pressure from slack demand at home and abroad, The Wall Street Journal reported. Exports in July slid 8.3% from a year earlier, reversing a gain of 2.8% in June, customs data released Saturday showed. Imports fell for the ninth month in a row, dropping 8.1%, after a decline of 6.1% in June.

China has spent $144bn to bolster the country’s fragile stock market since June, Goldman Sachs has estimated amid investor fears that authorities might run low on firepower to draw on should stocks resume their recent sharp descent, the Financial Times reported. The figure is less than half of the roughly $322bn war chest that the coalition of state financial institutions — known as the “national team” — has at its disposal, the bank reckons. Concern that the national team is short of capital or is preparing to exit its investments has dominated investor sentiment in recent weeks.