China

As China’s economy slows and the trade war with the United States intensifies, Beijing’s economic bosses are swinging into action, the International New York Times reported. Chinese officials are pushing banks to lend more and allowing indebted local governments to spend money on big projects again. They have moved to shore up the value of the country’s currency. They have also helped out the stock market, say financial analysts, as the government works to avert a stock market collapse like the one three years ago that shook the world.

Zhejiang Shipbuilding, a bankrupt subsidiary yard of Sinopacific Shipbuilding, has released a draft restructuring plan, Splash reported. Under the plan, Shanghai Yingjun Investment Management Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s real estate conglomerate Evergrand Group, will provide RMB1.501bn ($220m) to support the restructuring of the yard. Upon completion of the restructuring, Yingjun Investment will gain full control of the yard. Zhejiang Shipbuilding has total confirmed liabilities of RMB3.178bn and a total asset value of RMB953m.

Six HNA Group Co. units have lost about $10 billion in market value since their shares resumed trading in the past few weeks, underscoring persisting concerns about the conglomerate, which is saddled with one of the biggest piles of debt in corporate China, Bloomberg News reported. Total losses topped the milestone during early trading in Shanghai and Shenzhen on Tuesday, though they pared back declines to about $9.8 billion as of the midday break. All the units have underperformed their benchmark indexes since the share suspensions, with Hainan HNA Infrastructure Investment Group Co.

In the world’s most vital maritime chokepoint, through which much of Asian trade passes, a Chinese power company is investing in a deepwater port large enough to host an aircraft carrier, the International New York Times reported. Another state-owned Chinese company is revamping a harbor along the fiercely contested South China Sea. Nearby, a rail network mostly financed by a Chinese government bank is being built to speed Chinese goods along a new Silk Road.

As former cricket star Imran Khan prepares to take his oath as Pakistan’s new prime minister Saturday, there’s one thing he must be clear about: Pakistan may be China’s friend at the moment, but the relationship could quickly turn sour. In the next month or so, Islamabad may have to take another bailout package from the International Monetary Fund — the country’s 13th, a Bloomberg View reported. The State Bank of Pakistan now holds just over $10 billion in foreign exchange reserves, giving enough room to buy only two months’ worth of imports. But the IMF route is tedious.

A Chinese local-government investment platform that defaulted on a Rmb500m bond payment on Monday has belatedly repaid the debt, according to local media, the Financial Times reported. China Business News, a respected Chinese newspaper, cited unnamed sources to report that Sixth Agriculture State-Owned Assets Management Co had already transferred the full amount due for principal and interest on the bond to Shanghai Clearing House, one of two main state-owned clearing house and custodians for China’s interbank bond market.

An investment arm of western China’s Xinjiang region has failed to repay a Rmb500m ($73m) bond, marking the first public default by a Chinese government-linked holding company, the Financial Times reported. The default by the Sixth Agriculture State-Owned Assets Management Co is the first by an investment holding company and a signal to investors that even state-owned groups that are agents of fiscal policy — considered closer to Beijing than commercially operated state-owned enterprises— are not guaranteed to be bailed out by the state. Sixth Agricultural is a holding compa

A rally in bonds from China’s local government finance vehicles, sparked by the recent easing measures, may be at risk of losing momentum after a surprise bond default by a state-owned firm on Monday, Bloomberg News reported. Xinjiang Production Construction 6th Shi State-owned Assets Management, a cotton trader owned by the local government, missed interest and principal on a 500 million yuan ($72.6 million) note on Monday. The company has features similar to an LGFV, which raises funds for local authorities and carries out infrastructure investments, according to analysts.

As China girds for an escalating trade fight with the U.S., it is facing increasing trouble on the home front from a slowing economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spending on so-called fixed assets such as factory machinery and public works projects cooled to the lowest point in nearly two decades, the government reported Tuesday. Other data also pointed to economic challenges. Retail sales grew, but not as sharply as analysts had expected. And unemployment ticked up to 5.1% last month, from 4.8% in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The worst of the plunge in China’s yuan should be behind us. That’s the view of Charles Feng, head of macro trading for Greater China at Standard Chartered Plc., even as drama in Turkey rattles markets worldwide, Bloomberg News reported. Factors pressuring the yuan -- such as trade tension and easing China monetary policy -- are almost priced in, while there’s limited room for the dollar to rise further, he said. Investors could also start seeing a bottom for mainland stocks, which are down more than 20 percent from this year’s peak.