Shenzhen has drafted China’s first personal bankruptcy laws as the southern city tackles broader economic troubles stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, paving the way for others to follow suit, Reuters reported. The rules are intended to give “honest and unfortunate” debtors the chance to escape the mire of debt and make a comeback, the city government said in an official post on Wednesday.
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China’s central bank is trying to fix one of the domestic economy’s most intractable problems: Poor access to credit by small companies, Bloomberg News reported. Having resisted the kind of large-scale stimulus rolled out by its global peers, the People’s Bank of China instead has been tapping away at small-scale programs designed to improve the ability of small firms to survive the slump.
As China tightens its belt economically in response to the coronavirus, African leaders are anxious about the future of infrastructure projects, trade and, in some cases, are requesting debt relief, VOA reported. China is Africa’s largest trading partner with over $200 billion in combined imports and exports annually.
PizzaExpress is planning to launch a pasta brand to bring in extra revenue amid negotiations over its large debt pile and the possible closure of some of its restaurants, the Financial Times reported. The chain’s owners, Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, are considering options for its future, including a “company voluntary arrangement”, an administration process that would allow the business to reduce its costs by closing some of its 627 restaurants.
To some short sellers, GSX Techedu Inc. is an “almost completely empty box,” with numbers that are too good to be true, Bloomberg News reported. To many analysts -- including those at Credit Suisse Group AG, which led the company’s initial public offering -- the Chinese online education firm remains a buy, and detractors just don’t understand the business model.
The Tanzanian unit of Kenya’s ARM Cement Plc has been sold to China’s Huaxin Cement company, its administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers and Huaxin said on Wednesday, paving way for completion of one of its production plant, Reuters reported. Huaxin would inject $116 million into the unit, Maweni Limestone Ltd, to settle liabilities, and another $30 million to complete plant construction and upgrade, according to their joint statement.
China, Africa’s largest bilateral creditor, is likely to agree to delay but not forgive its $152 billion of loans, an approach at odds with prior forbearance plans from groups including the Paris Club, according to a top Johns Hopkins University researcher, Bloomberg News reported. “The Chinese have always done their lending on the idea that individual projects contribute to structural transformation and economic development,” said Deborah Brautigam, who heads the China Africa Research Initiative at JHU’s School of Advanced International Studies.
Months of concern over rising Covid-19 infection levels may be secondary for investors in coming days as market-moving events and policy decisions take center stage, Bloomberg News reported. China’s annual National People’s Congress starting Friday will likely keep volatility suppressed for developing-nation currencies, despite the prospect of another flareup in tensions between Beijing and Washington.
A Hong Kong-listed oil explorer became the first casualty of the spectacular oil price slump in China’s offshore bond market, after defaulting on a dollar note, Bloomberg News reported. MIE Holdings Corp. failed to deliver an interest repayment of about $17 million for its 13.75% dollar bond due 2022 after a 30-day grace period expired Monday, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. This triggered cross defaults on other loan facilities, it said.
With China’s economy in free fall and millions of small businesses running low on cash, the online lending platform backed by billionaire Jack Ma entered crisis mode, Bloomberg News reported. It was mid-February, near the peak of China’s coronavirus outbreak, and MYbank had to decide whether to reduce its exposure or keep doling out loans. After a two-day marathon of calls and emails from self-isolation, the firm’s executives agreed with 25 partner banks on a potentially risky strategy: cut interest rates and turn on the credit taps like never before.