The European Commission on Tuesday proposed final duties of up to 36.3% on imported electric vehicles made in China, as part of the highest profile EU probe of alleged Chinese subsidies which has provoked threats of retaliation from Beijing, Reuters reported. It has also launched investigations into whether Chinese clean tech producers are dumping subsidised goods on EU markets and whether Chinese-owned companies unfairly benefit from subsidies while operating inside the European Union. The EU executive says its aim is to prevent unfair competition and market distortion.

A bankruptcy filing against a Guangzhou-based unit of collapsed developer China Evergrande has been accepted by a mainland China court, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, the South China Morning Post reported. A court in the southeastern Chinese city accepted a bankruptcy liquidation application filed against Guangzhou Kailong Real Estate, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the world’s most indebted developer, on August 9, the liquidators of Evergrande said in the filing on Monday.

China’s central bank said a meeting in Shanghai produced an agreement with the U.S. Treasury to appoint contact people to deal with any future “financial stress events,” Bloomberg News reported. The two sides also “exchanged lists of financial stability contacts” during the fifth meeting of the so-called Financial Working Group that was set up following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China last year.

Singapore will introduce new curbs on public housing purchases as its new prime minister seeks to tame years of price increases that threaten to become a political flashpoint for his ruling party in upcoming elections, Bloomberg News reported. The measures, which include a lower loan-to-value limit, are aimed at promoting a “stable and sustainable” market, according to a joint statement late Monday from the Ministry of National Development and the Housing & Development Board.

Thailand’s key economic stimulus — almost $14 billion in cash payments to its citizens — will need further study to ensure compliance with the nation’s fiscal discipline law, newly appointed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said, Bloomberg News reported. The change in economic condition is prompting further assessment and reviews, Paetongtarn, 37, told reporters Sunday. She was responding to reports that her father Thaksin Shinawatra is demanding that the new government drop the Pheu Thai party’s flagship policy during the election campaign last year.

Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard has sounded out Japan's Seven & i about a potential takeover, the two companies said on Monday, making the 7-Eleven owner the largest-ever Japanese target of a foreign buyout, Reuters reported. While the value of the offer has not been disclosed, the bid is the latest example of the growing interest in Japanese companies by Western investors, who have been drawn by the country's push for better governance.

A record number of businesses have been placed into administration in the past year, an inquiry has been told, with advocates saying inflationary pressures are affecting multiple industries, the Australian Associated Press reported. Officials from Australia's corporate watchdog told a parliamentary inquiry into the cost-of-living crisis that 11,053 businesses entered external administration in the 2023/24 financial year. ASIC commissioner Kate O'Rourke said while the proportion of businesses going into administration was not the highest, the past year had the most overall.

The Thai hotel industry is reeling from the collapse of two major European tour operators, I Travel and FTI Touristik GmbH, which has left 179 hotels out of pocket to the tune of 173 million baht, Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA) said on Friday, NationThailand.com reported. The association said that the fallout has predominantly impacted establishments in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, with losses estimated at 3 million baht for individual hotels.

Booktopia has been rescued by the owner of online camera store digiDirect, Shant Kradjian, who is adding 100 jobs back to the collapsed bookseller, the Sidney Morning Herald reported. The business and all its assets were transferred to Kradjian on Friday evening and the website has resumed trading. McGrathNicol administrator Keith Crawford said that he was incredibly pleased to close the sale and that the transition of Booktopia to another Australian e-commerce retailer was a great outcome for the business.