Asia Pacific

When China’s top leaders pledged this summer to act more aggressively to stimulate economic growth, they rounded off their remedies with a political order: Slash red tape, the Wall Street Journal reported. There were promises to revitalize the world’s second-largest economy by boosting household incomes, consumption and bank lending to businesses. But plans will be hobbled, the Communist Party’s elite Politburo warned in July, if front-line officials remain bogged down by busywork.

The founder of bankrupt Indian tech firm Byju’s tried to use loan proceeds that he allegedly hid from US lenders to secretly buy back a software company that was taken over by an American trustee, according to a new court filing, Bloomberg News reported. Byju Raveendran has been trying to regain control his capsizing education technology empire, which is under court supervision in both India, where the parent is based, and the US, where some of its valuable units are located, according to a court declaration filed by Nebraska businessman William R. Hailer.

China's commerce ministry on Thursday announced a series of policy measures aimed at boosting the country's foreign trade, including pledging to strengthen financing support to firms and expand exports of agricultural products, Reuters reported. With U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs in excess of 60% on all Chinese goods, which has rattled Chinese manufacturers and accelerated factory relocation to Southeast Asia and other regions, exporters in the world's second-biggest economy are bracing for any trade disruptions.

On his first day in office, leader Xi Jinping inherited an ambitious road map to build 10,000 miles of high-speed rail to link China’s biggest cities. He took those plans and supersized them. What has emerged 12 years later is one of the biggest public works in history, soon to exceed 30,000 miles of high-speed rail, the Wall Street Journal reported. For many of its citizens, the vast network is one of the clearest signs of China’s progress, especially compared with the U.S., which has struggled to get any high-speed rail going.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by U.S. prosecutors for his alleged role in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials, plunging his conglomerate deep into crisis for the second time in two years, Reuters reported. Multiple counts of fraud - which U.S. authorities say involved a firm that was listed in New York and affected American investors - were levelled against Adani, who is one of the world's richest people, as well as seven other defendants.

India's top electric scooter maker Ola Electric plans to cut about 500 jobs as it seeks to prioritise profitability, local business news publication Moneycontrol reported on Thursday, citing sources, according to Reuters. Ola Electric had 4,011 on-roll employees as of March 2024, according to its latest IPO document from August. The company declined to comment on the reports. The company's stock ended 3% lower at its lowest-ever closing price of 67.23 rupees. The SoftBank-backed firm has yet to turn a profit due to high costs and reductions in EV subsidies.

The National Company Law Tribunal has directed to initiate insolvency proceedings against realty firm Raheja Developers on a petition filed by flat allottees of its Gurgaon-based Shilas project, the Economic Times of India reported. The NCLT said that Raheja Developers has a "debt due and default" against the flat allottees, who had made their payments and delivery of the units was not on time and referred it for Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). "The Application bearing...

WeWork Inc. is giving up space in two prime locations in Singapore, underscoring the company’s challenges in one of its most promising markets, Bloomberg News reported. One co-working space spanning the 17th to 20th floors at Manulife Tower along Singapore’s 8 Cross Street has ended operations. Another three-floor space in an office building at 83 Clemenceau Avenue on the city center fringe will close next year. A WeWork spokesperson said in a statement that despite Singapore being a “priority market,” it has “made the difficult decision” not to renew leases at the two locations.

South Korea’s household debt grew the most in three years last quarter, highlighting a development that kept the central bank from pivoting on policy until last month, Bloomberg News reported. Total household credit rose by 18 trillion won ($12.9 billion) in the July-September period compared with the previous quarter, according to data released Tuesday by the Bank of Korea. Mortgage loans, a major component of the credit, also rose by the most since the third quarter of 2021.