Embattled Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee Inc. filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York, less than a year after the company said that more than a quarter’s worth of business may have been faked, Bloomberg News reported. The move will protect the company from lawsuits by U.S. creditors while it reorganizes in China, where it runs several thousand outlets. All its coffee shops will remain open for business and the chapter 15 petition will not materially impact the company’s day-to-day operations, according to a statement issued today.
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China’s army of tiny hedge funds are pulling further ahead of their better-known foreign competitors with outsized gains helping them attract more assets, Bloomberg News reported. The nearly 15,000 funds offered by Chinese managers returned 30% on average last year, with the best-performers surging 10-fold, according to Shenzhen PaiPaiWang Investment & Management Co. That dwarfs the average 12% gain for hedge funds globally.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for China to condemn the military coup in Myanmar and warned Beijing that Washington will work with its allies to hold the People’s Republic accountable for what he described as its efforts to threaten international stability particularly in the Taiwan Strait, CNBC.com reported. Blinken spoke with his counterpart Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi late Friday in the first conversation between senior U.S. and Chinese officials since President Joe Biden took office. The top U.S.
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China will improve policies to help medium-to small and micro companies deal with bankruptcy more smoothly, state broadcaster reported on Wednesday, citing the state council meeting, Reuters reported. China will also crack down on such firms dodging repayment obligations for defaulted bonds in order to protect the interests of workers, creditors and investors, the cabinet said.
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Ant Group Co. has agreed a restructuring plan with Chinese regulators under which the fintech giant will become a financial holding company, potentially easing founder Jack Ma’s regulatory woes, Reuters reported. The plan calls for putting all of Ant’s businesses into the holding company, including its payment processing and technology offerings in areas like blockchain and food delivery, the person said, declining to be named due to confidentiality constraints.
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China’s embattled HNA Group is looking for private investors to help it emerge from bankruptcy, a person with knowledge of the matter said, but bankers and analysts say restructuring may be challenging due to its debt pile and opaque corporate structure, Reuters reported. The creditors’ move to file for bankruptcy came after HNA was put under a restructuring exercise led by the Hainan government to resolve its liquidity risks stemming from years of aggressive acquisitions abroad.
Creditors of China’s HNA Group have applied to a Chinese court for the company to be placed in bankruptcy and restructured, potentially giving a fresh start for the remaining assets of the once-highly acquisitive conglomerate, Reuters reported. HNA Group said on Friday that it had been notified by a Hainan court that its creditors had acted because it was unable to pay its debts. It said it would cooperate with the court. HNA Group was once one of China’s most aggressive dealmaking firms.
Hong Kong’s stock rally is so dependent on mainland capital that the mere suggestion the record inflows will slow has the potential to stir panic in the city’s $7.1 trillion market, Bloomberg News reported. Such was the case on Tuesday, when the People’s Bank of China withdrew incremental liquidity and an adviser warned obliquely of asset bubbles. The result was the biggest drop in eight months for the Hang Seng Index.
China’s central bank won’t exit “prematurely” from its supportive monetary policies while at the same time keeping debt risks under control, Governor Yi Gang said, Bloomberg News reported. Monetary policy will continue to “prop up the economy,” Yi said on a panel hosted by the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. Officials will remain mindful of risks, such as a rising macro leverage ratio and higher non-performing loans, he said. “Looking forward, I think our monetary policy will continue,” he said.
Millions of barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude, embargoed by the U.S., have been surreptitiously going to China, Bloomberg News reported. The cat-and-mouse games that avoid detection and sanctions include ship-to-ship transfers, shell companies and silenced satellite signals. But there’s another aspect to the dodge. It involves “doping” the oil with chemical additives and changing its name in the paperwork so it can be sold as a wholly different crude without a trace of its Venezuelan roots.