China

China's factory output and retail sales growth slowed sharply and missed expectations in July, as new COVID-19 outbreaks and floods disrupted business operations, adding to signs the economic recovery is losing momentum, Reuters reported. Industrial production in the world's second largest economy increased 6.4% year-on-year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. Analysts had expected output to rise 7.8% after growing 8.3% in June. Retail sales increased 8.5% in July from a year ago, far lower than the forecast 11.5% rise and June's 12.1% uptick.

The management of troubled private oil refiner Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group has been taken over by government officials from China’s Panjin city amid a tax probe that could lead to heavy fines and possible insolvency, Bloomberg News reported. A team led by officials from the north-eastern city, where the conglomerate is based, has been appointed to run the company from this month. Bora is seeking to restructure and avoid collapse due to mounting financial woes brought on by large amounts of unpaid taxes.

China's months-long regulatory crackdown has included big names in e-commerce, the gig economy, exam cramming and most recently online insurance. Close to $1 trillion in market value has been wiped out since February, Reuters reported. For big firms that also list on markets like Wall Street because it brings in international investment, 2021 is already the worst year since the global financial crisis. Many analysts are convinced things will settle, but only the Beijing ruling elite know if and when that might be.

A Covid outbreak that has partially shut one of the world’s busiest container ports is heightening concerns that the rapid spread of the delta variant will lead to a repeat of last year’s shipping nightmares, Bloomberg News reported. The Port of Los Angeles, which saw its volumes dip because of a June Covid outbreak at the Yantian port in China, is bracing for another potential decline because of the latest shutdown at the Ningbo-Zhoushan port in China, a spokesman said.

China is halting private equity funds from raising money to invest in residential property developments, turning off the spigot on one of the last stable funding resorts for the struggling sector, Bloomberg News reported. The government-endorsed Asset Management Association of China, or AMAC, has verbally informed private equity firms it would no longer be accepting the required registrations to set up funds to invest in projects. Applications that have already been made would also be denied, while existing funds wouldn’t be affected.

Congestion off China's top two container ports Shanghai and Ningbo is worsening following the shutdown of a container terminal in Ningbo where a COVID-19 case was detected this week, Reuters reported. Tighter restrictions to fight China's latest coronavirus outbreak are starting to hit more parts of the economy. The highly transmissable Delta variant has been detected in more than a dozen cities since late July. Forty container vessels were waiting at the outer Zhoushan anchorage on Thursday, up from 30 on Aug.

City Developments Ltd, run by Singapore’s richest property dynasty, reported a first-half loss on the fallout from the pandemic and said it is mulling a deeper China presence after being stung by write downs on an earlier investment, Bloomberg News reported. Travel restrictions caused revenues to decline at the firm’s hotel operations and investment properties, while the withdrawal of Covid tax relief plans contributed to a S$32.1 million ($23.7 million) loss in the first six months.

China Evergrande Group’s stock and bonds jumped Wednesday after the company said it’s in talks to sell stakes in two of its units, potentially injecting fresh funds into the cash-strapped property firm, Bloomberg News reported. The discussions involve “several independent third-party investors,” the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange late Tuesday. Talks involve Evergrande stakes in its electric vehicle start-up and property services units.

The regulatory storm that washed billions from Chinese corporate valuations in the name of curbing excesses exposes not only the policy risk under President Xi Jinping's increasingly activist tenure, but also the uncertainty over implementation, Reuters reported. Xi's campaign to clamp down on industries ranging from internet platforms and bitcoin to ride-hailing giant Didi Global and tutoring marks a historic shift as he prioritises broad-based prosperity over the all-out growth pursued for decades by China.