Asia Pacific

In a striking sign of the Chinese economy’s stagnation, the central bank said on Friday that it had temporarily stopped buying government bonds, the New York Times reported. The central bank’s unexpected action is aimed at braking a recent shift by investors toward purchasing bonds while shunning riskier assets like stocks and real estate. That shift has driven China’s long-term interest rates to a record low. The decision to stop buying government bonds is especially unusual because interest rates have been rising lately in most of the world, in response to inflation fears.

Chinese companies were among the main buyers at the bankruptcy auction for BelGaN's high-tech machinery, Belgium’s last industrial chip manufacturer. In total, it raised over €23 million on Friday, according to its creditors, the Brussels Times reported. The company, based in Oudenaarde, East Flanders, went out of business three months ago, leaving over 400 employees jobless. The company specialised in the production of innovative gallium nitride semiconductors. https://www.brusselstimes.com/1388179/china-buys-assets-of-belgiums-bankrupt-semiconductor-maker

A key bondholder group of Country Garden Holdings Co., one of China’s most closely watched developers ensnared in the broader property crisis, isn’t on board with restructuring terms unveiled on Thursday, Bloomberg News reported. The new proposals by Country Garden aren’t supported by the so-called ad hoc group, which holds more than 30% of the developer’s outstanding $10.4 billion of notes.

Chinese property developers are starting 2025 facing liquidation petitions and mountains of debt as the nation’s real estate crisis enters its fifth year with little sign of improvement, Bloomberg News reported. Just this week, defaulted Chinese builder Sunac China Holdings Ltd received another winding-up petition. While the company successfully restructured its offshore debt in 2023, concerns about its ability to meet payment obligations have pushed its stock and bond prices to the lowest level in months.

In a striking sign of the Chinese economy’s stagnation, the central bank said on Friday that it had temporarily stopped buying government bonds, the New York Times reported. The central bank’s unexpected action is aimed at braking a recent shift by investors toward purchasing bonds while shunning riskier assets like stocks and real estate. That shift has driven China’s long-term interest rates to a record low. The decision to stop buying government bonds is especially unusual because interest rates have been rising lately in most of the world, in response to inflation fears.

Asia accounts for 60% of global crypto users and contributes the largest share of worldwide liquidity, according to Foresight Ventures, a crypto-focused venture capital firm, TheStreet.com reported. On Jan. 9, Foresight Ventures released its latest “GTM in Asia” report, co-published with Primitive Ventures, noting Asia’s influence in the global cryptocurrency landscape. Five Asian nations feature in the 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with India securing the top position, Indonesia ranking third, Vietnam placing fifth, the Philippines coming in eighth, and Pakistan taking the ninth spot.

Country Garden has proposed a deal to its offshore creditors that will cut its debt by $11.6 billion, paving the way for the property developer to seek more time from the high court in Hong Kong to implement a restructuring plan, Reuters reported. The indebted developer has reached an understanding with a lender group made up of seven banks ahead of the company's liquidation hearing on Jan. 20 in Hong Kong, bringing it closer towards a restructuring of its offshore debt.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday, reserved its order on the appeals by Glas Trust and Aditya Birla Finance to be added to the committee of creditors (CoC), as well as the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) application to withdraw its insolvency petition against the cash-strapped edtech firm Byju's, the Economic Times of India reported.

Australian building approvals were weaker than expected in November, denting hopes of a big recovery in housing supply to meet surging immigration, the Wall Street Journal reported. The total number of dwellings approved fell 3.6% in November to 14,998, following a 5.2% rise in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Economists had expected approvals to drop 0.9% over the month.