China’s finance ministry is considering a proposal to transfer its shares in China Huarong Asset Management Co. and three other bad-debt managers to a new holding company modeled after the one that owns the government’s stakes in state-run banks, Bloomberg News reported. Policy makers are re-examining the proposal, which was first tabled three years ago, as part of discussions on how to deal with the financial risks posed by Huarong.
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China's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace this year in May as domestic and export demand picked up, though sharp rises in raw material prices and strains in supply chains crimped some companies' production, a business survey showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 52.0 last month, the highest level since December and inching up from April's 51.9. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the index to remain at 51.9. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
The U.S. banned imports of tuna, swordfish and other seafood from a Chinese fishery company, citing evidence of forced labor on its distant-water vessels, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will detain shipments containing seafood harvested by China’s Dalian Ocean Fishing Co., officials said, in the latest example of Washington confronting Beijing over human-rights issues.
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China's banking regulator has asked lenders to stop selling investment products linked to commodities futures to mom-and-pop buyers to curb investment losses amid volatile commodity prices, Reuters reported. It has also asked lenders to completely unwind their existing books for these products, which they manufacture and sell to individual investors. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission's (CBIRC's) order to exit these products has not been reported before. It issued the order this year.
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China's market regulator has begun an investigation into suspected anti-competitive practices by KE Holdings, the country's biggest housing broker whose top backer is Tencent Holdings, Reuters reported. The investigation is the latest into China's big so-called "platform" companies that match sellers and buyers, several of which have been accused by regulators of exploiting consumers.
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China’s efforts to restrain cryptocurrency trading and mining are adding to the wild moves in bitcoin and other markets, the Wall Street Journal reported. Already down hard from records set this year, bitcoin and other digital currencies sold off sharply last week after Chinese authorities renewed pressure on the country’s banks and payment companies to curb cryptocurrency-related transactions. Markets stumbled again after a powerful superregulator chaired by Vice Premier Liu He pledged to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading.
China’s repo market shows just how risky China Huarong Asset Management Co.’s bonds are perceived to be within the mainland, despite being majority-owned by the finance ministry, Bloomberg News reported. Borrowers putting up a Huarong Securities 2023 bond for collateral now get just 40% of the note’s face value as cash, down from 91% at the start of April, according to China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp. data. The decline in effective value illustrates the stunning loss of confidence in a company that’s crucial to China’s banking system.
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Even by the standards of a record-breaking global credit binge, China’s corporate bond tab stands out: $1.3 trillion of domestic debt payable in the next 12 months, Bloomberg News reported. That’s 30% more than what U.S. companies owe, 63% more than in all of Europe and enough money to buy Tesla Inc. twice over. What’s more, it’s all coming due at a time when Chinese borrowers are defaulting on onshore debt at an unprecedented pace. The combination has investors bracing for another turbulent stretch for the world’s second-largest credit market.
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A cyberattack on Ireland’s health system has paralyzed the country’s health services for a week, cutting off access to patient records, delaying Covid-19 testing, and forcing cancellations of medical appointments, the New York Times reported. Using ransomware, which is malware that encrypts a victims’ data until they pay a ransom, the people behind the attack have been holding hostage the data at Ireland’s publicly funded health care system, the Health Service Executive. The attack forced the H.S.E. to shut down its entire information technology system.
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Concern over China Huarong Asset Management Co.’s financial health is deepening among domestic investors, threatening to worsen a selloff offshore, Bloomberg News reported. The firm’s thinly traded 19 billion yuan note due 2022 fell 12% to 70.2 yuan on Thursday, according to Bloomberg-compiled data, while its 3.54% domestic bond maturing in November dropped 24% to 75.3 yuan, both on pace for record lows. The company’s dollar bonds also declined, with a 3.75% bond due 2022 falling 5.5 cents on the dollar to 73.6 cents, its weakest level in more than a month.
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