China

China's exports and imports unexpectedly contracted in October, the first simultaneous slump since May 2020, as surging inflation and rising interest rates hammered global demand while new COVID-19 curbs at home disrupted output and consumption, Reuters reported. Outbound shipments in October shrank 0.3% from a year earlier, a sharp turnaround from a 5.7% gain in September, official data showed on Monday, and well below analysts' expectations for a 4.3% increase. It was the worst performance since May 2020.

A mansion belonging to embattled China Evergrande Group's chairman in Hong Kong's prestigious The Peak residential enclave has been seized by lender China Construction Bank (Asia), records from the Land Registry show, Reuters reported. The bank appointed receivers to take over the 5,000 sq ft (465 sq m) mansion on Nov. 1, according to a filing.

Debt-laden property developer China Evergrande Group said on Tuesday its unit received a notice of enforcement for unrecoverable funds from Shengjing Bank Co Ltd, Reuters reported. The bank said it failed to recover funds totalling 32.595 billion yuan ($4.48 billion), which was provided to the unit from 2020 to 2021, according to Evergrande. In early September, state-owned companies of the Chinese northestern city of Shenyang bought Evergrande's shareholding in Shengjing Bank in an auction for 7.3 billion yuan.

China's property market continued its slump in October, with private data showing home prices and sales falling, suggesting lacklustre sentiment and a bleak outlook amid strict COVID curbs that have rattled consumer confidence, Reuters reported. China's property sector, once a pillar of growth, has slowed sharply in the past year as a result of a government clampdown on excessive borrowing by developers, and a COVID-19-induced economic slump.

Stellantis said that shareholders of its loss-making joint venture producing Jeep vehicles in China have approved it to file for bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The European carmaker said in a statement it had fully impaired the value of its investment in the venture in its results for the fist half of 2022, adding that it will continue to provide services to existing and future Jeep brand customers in China. Stellantis had terminated the joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. (GAC) in July, only months after it said it would raise its stake in the business to 75% from 50%.

Major Chinese state-owned banks sold U.S. dollars in both onshore and offshore markets in late trade on Tuesday to prop up the weakening yuan, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Such dollar selling comes as the Chinese currency is facing mounting downside pressure, with the onshore yuan hitting the weakest level since December 2007 and the value of yuan against currencies of its major trading partners at a five-month low. The selling of dollars by state banks in early U.S.

China's cabinet issued rules on Tuesday to promote private businesses, including incentives for financial institutions to lend to them, in its latest move to support an economy facing multiple headwinds, Reuters reported. The rules aim to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of private businesses and expand employment, China's cabinet said in a notice published on its website. "Private businessmen are important market players, playing an important role in booming the economy and increasing employment." The Tuesday rules also banned abusive charges to the self-employed.

China’s economy expanded more strongly than expected in the third quarter as the country bounced back modestly from crippling Covid lockdowns in the spring, though challenges remain as leader Xi Jinping consolidates control over the political apparatus for another five years, the Wall Street Journal reported. China’s gross domestic product grew by 3.9% in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Monday in a data release that was unexpectedly delayed as Communist Party leaders gathered for a key meeting in Beijing.

China’s export growth weakened in September as global consumer demand cooled while imports rebounded from a contraction after Chinese economic growth improved, the Associated Press reported. Exports rose 5.7% over a year earlier to $322.8 billion, down from August’s 7% growth, official data showed Monday. Imports gained 0.3% to $238 billion, recovering from the previous month’s 0.2% contraction.

China on Monday suddenly delayed the release of its economic data—including September housing sales—that was scheduled for this week. But there is little doubt that the property market is still in a dire shape and likely won’t get better without more determined help from Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported. While defaults for property developers in China have become a common event, the recent one from CIFI Holdings still rocked the market. The company said last week that it missed an interest payment on a Hong Kong dollar-denominated convertible bond.