Chinese authorities are working on a proposal to help China Vanke Co. plug a funding gap of about 50 billion yuan ($6.8 billion) this year, according to people familiar with the matter, highlighting the government’s support for the distressed developer, Bloomberg News reported. Under the plan, regulators would allocate 20 billion yuan of special local government bond quota for the purchase of unsold properties and vacant land from Vanke, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

Japan’s financial regulator urged the country’s regional banks to pay closer attention to the risks of investing in so-called repackaged government bonds, Bloomberg News reported. At a regular meeting with regional bank heads on Wednesday, a senior official at the Financial Services Agency told lenders that they should make sure they have proper risk management in place for the financial instruments.

Tokyo has asked the U.S. government to exempt Japanese firms from U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Japan Times reported. “We have requested the U.S. government to exclude Japan from the scope of these measures,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a news conference Wednesday, adding that the request was made by the Japanese Embassy in Washington via diplomatic channels.

Oil refiners in India — eager to keep importing cheap crude from Russia — are working with merchants, shippers and other middlemen to rebuild supply chains as tougher US sanctions come into effect, Bloomberg News reported. Speaking on the sidelines of India’s flagship energy gathering in Delhi, executives said the existing networks were being reconfigured with selling entities, tankers and insurance providers that are not on Washington’s blacklist.

China is racing to make itself less reliant on the outside world’s products and technology—part of a yearslong effort by leader Xi Jinping to make China more self-sufficient and impervious to Western pressure as tensions with the U.S. rise, the Wall Street Journal reported. Beijing has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into favored industries, especially in high-end manufacturing, while exhorting business leaders to fall in line with the government’s priorities. In many ways, the effort is succeeding.

China Vanke Co. won more support from authorities as its largest state shareholder agreed to provide up to 2.8 billion yuan ($383 million) to help the struggling developer repay outstanding debt, Bloomberg News reported. Shenzhen Metro Group Co., which holds a 27% stake in Vanke, signed a three-year secured loan agreement with the firm on Monday, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Under the deal, Vanke will provide asset collateral worth up to 4 billion yuan to Shenzhen Metro through an 18% stake in its property management unit Onewo Inc.

Country Garden Holdings Co.’s sales slump dragged on in January, as new residential transactions countrywide resumed falling on weak sentiment. Contracted sales dropped 59% from a year earlier to 2.26 billion yuan ($309 million), following a 51% year-on-year decline in December, according to Bloomberg calculations based on corporate filings. Country Garden’s slide in home sales substantially surpasses the 3.2% posted by the 100 biggest real estate companies tracked by China Real Estate Information Corp. The market is dented by weak domestic demand and a worsening job market.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has terminated the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Logix Infrastructure Pvt Ltd — the developer of Blossom County in Sector 137 — citing "fraudulent intent" in the petition, the Times of India reported. In its Feb 6 order, the tribunal asked the resolution professional (RP) to allow Logix Infrastructure's former directors to take back control of the company's management.