The International Monetary Fund’s chief said China is shifting its thinking about participating in debt restructuring after being confronted by countries unable to pay what they owe, signaling hope the world’s second-largest economy will help provide relief for distressed nations, Bloomberg News reported. China — now the biggest lender to developing economies — has joined traditional western creditors from the Paris Club in recognizing the need to create a better mechanism for debt overhauls, Kristalina Georgieva said.

Embattled property developer China Evergrande Group said on Thursday it would extend the deadline for receiving an incentive for its debt restructuring proposal to May 18 as the company disclosed levels of support from offshore debt-holders for its proposal, Reuters reported. Evergrande said that 77% holders of class-A debts and 30% holders of class-C debts have submitted their respective support for the restructuring proposal, among others.

South Korea's exports fell for a seventh straight month in April for their longest losing streak in three years, driven by an extended slump in sales to China and suggesting persistent pressure on the economy from frail global demand, Reuters reported. The downturn comes despite the reopening of the Chinese economy - a major market for South Korean goods and especially for chips - in December, and raises the challenge for policymakers as they push for a robust post-COVID revival.

China's banking and insurance regulator said it would enhance credit support and lower the actual financing costs of small and micro enterprises this year to better support economic recovery, Reuters reported. In a statement on Thursday, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said financial institutions should provide reasonable credits to small businesses, while preventing the risk of "over-lending". The CBIRC said it aims to improve the quality of financial services for small and micro enterprises, to promote market vitality and boost confidence.

In the latest official scrutiny of a prominent American business in China, the authorities visited the Shanghai offices of the U.S. management consulting firm Bain & Company this month to question its employees, the New York Times reported. In a written statement, Bain said that it is “cooperating as appropriate with the Chinese authorities,” but declined to comment on the nature of the investigation and whether its employees’ phones and computers had been seized during the visit.

China's cabinet on Wednesday unveiled plans to boost employment, including supporting financial institutions to offer loans to small firms and issuing subsidies to firms that hire college graduates or unemployed young people, Reuters reported. The world's second-largest economy reported better-than-expected growth in the first quarter after the lifting of stringent COVID-19 curbs, but the jobless rate for those aged 16 to 24 rebounded close to a record high in March, creating a headache for policymakers.

China has finished building a national and unified system for real estate registration, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, in a landmark move that will boost transparency in ownership, Reuters reported. In 2014, China issued rules requiring real estate owners to register their holdings with authorities but faced heavy resistance from local governments unwilling to open up their books.

China nudged banks this month to cut deposit interest rates further in the latest effort to channel the country's vast savings pool into spending and more productive investments, Reuters reported. Members of China's "interest rate self-regulatory mechanism," mostly banks, met this month and were urged to reduce deposit rates. China's central bank does not set bank rates directly but guides them through the market-based mechanism, which comprises banks big and small. The guidance comes as banks and the economy groan under the weight of huge inflows of savings and deposits.

The northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang is considering buying a stake in Hong Kong-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., giving it exposure to a local joint venture with BMW AG, Bloomberg News reported. The municipal government is discussing a potential acquisition of a 30% stake in Brilliance China held by state-backed Brilliance Automotive Group Holdings Co., which is in a court-led restructuring process, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is confidential.

China’s economy rebounded in the first three months of the year after Beijing dismantled its heavy-handed Covid-19 controls, teeing up a revival in growth that is expected to buoy the global economy as the U.S. and European economies slow, the Wall Street Journal reported. China’s economy expanded 4.5% in the first quarter of the year compared with the same three months a year earlier, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.