China

China’s top manager of distressed assets, China Huarong Asset Management Co., confirmed it made a net loss of roughly $16 billion last year, and warned investors that it fell short of regulatory requirements on financial strength, the Wall Street Journal reported. The publication of the 2020 results is a key step in the rehabilitation of Huarong. The company, a major borrower in international bond markets, had rattled global investors earlier this year after it delayed the release of its annual results.

Too big to fail or too tough to save? As China’s debt-laden No. 2 property developer lurched from one crisis to another in recent months its creditors, investors, suppliers, and bankers agonised over its fate with little hope on the horizon, Reuters reported. But industry watchers say clear signs are now emerging that authorities at various levels are stepping in to avoid a hard landing for China Evergrande Group, amid worries about the “social impact” of a possible collapse that could cascade through the country’s financial system.

China is framing rules to ban internet companies whose data poses potential security risks from listing outside the country, including in the United States, Reuters reported. The ban is also expected to be imposed on companies involved in ideology issues. Beijing said last month that it planned to strengthen supervision of all firms listed offshore, a sweeping regulatory shift that came after a cybersecurity investigation into ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. just days after its U.S. listing.

Country Garden Holdings Co.’s half-year profit rebounded as China’s largest residential developer by sales pointed to an uncertain outlook with curbs on property prices escalating in the world’s second-biggest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Core net profit, which adjusts for property revaluations, gained 4.2% to 15.2 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the Foshan-based company said Tuesday. Revenue surged 27% to 235 billion yuan.

Chinese bourses have halted more than 40 initial public offerings (IPOs) in Shanghai and Shenzhen amid a regulatory probe into several intermediaries in the deals, according to official exchange disclosures, Reuters reported. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange suspended more than 30 IPOs, including public share sale plans by BYD Co.'s chip unit, on Aug. 18, according to exchange filings. The Shanghai Stock Exchange has pressed the pause button on eight IPOs targeting the city's tech-focused STAR Market since Aug. 19.

China Evergrande Group pledged to fix its debt problems following a rare public rebuke from regulators as the developer struggles to stave off a liquidity crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Evergrande said that it will do its best to maintain stable operations, resolve debt risks, and keep stability in housing and financial markets. The People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission earlier told the group to address its debt woes and refrain from spreading “untrue” information.

A major container terminal at China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan Port remained shut a week after operations were suspended from a single Covid-19 case, with dozens of ships lining up to load cargo for western markets ahead of the year-end shopping season, the Wall Street Journal reported. The congestion at Meishan terminal, which isn’t expected to resume full operations before the end of the month, is spreading to other ports like Shanghai and Hong Kong as big operators divert ships away from Ningbo.

China’s top manager of distressed assets said it would post a massive loss and expects to receive a capital infusion from state-owned financial institutions, avoiding a messy default that would have had wide repercussions for Asia’s credit markets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China Huarong Asset Management Co. is poised to receive about 50 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) of fresh capital as part of an overhaul plan that would shift control of the embattled company to state-owned conglomerate Citic Group, Bloomberg News reported. The plan, some details of which are still being finalized and could change, calls for Citic to assume the Chinese government’s controlling stake in Huarong from the Ministry of Finance, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The capital injection would come from a Citic-led consortium.

Chinese real-estate billionaire Hui Ka Yan has stepped down as chairman of China Evergrande Group’s flagship property business, months after the unit dropped plans for a multibillion-dollar listing on the mainland, the Wall Street Journal reported. The chairman of Hengda Real Estate, the main onshore subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Evergrande, is now Zhao Changlong, commerce registration information on Chinese database provider qcc.com showed Tuesday. It is unclear exactly when the change happened. Mr.