China

China removed its high-profile, reformist finance minister from the post in a shuffle that comes as President Xi Jinping positions trusted allies in key roles and Beijing prioritizes short-term growth over major overhauls, The Wall Street Journal reported. The shuffle put more senior government posts in the hands of Xi loyalists ahead of a twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress next fall that will shape policy for years to come. Mr.

Creditors of Guangxi Nonferrous Metals Group have vetoed an insolvency plan in a case that shows the obstacles that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) face as they try to complete the bankruptcy process, Caixin Online reported. In the plan, the firm's bankruptcy administrators proposed auctioning, presumably at a discount, not only the equity stakes the parent has in its seven subsidiaries but also the debts that the subsidiaries owe to the parent, according to several of the firm’s creditors who voted on the bankruptcy plan on Oct. 28.

A succession of asset bubbles has formed in China, caused by a torrent of speculative money sloshing from stocks to bonds to commodities, The Wall Street Journal reported. The biggest apparent bubble is in housing, but prices have surged for niche assets, too, such as calligraphy, antiques and art. In May, futures prices for soybean meal, used as pig feed, jumped 40%. The trading volume of 600 million tons was nine times higher than China’s annual consumption. The pipe-making material PVC is up 40% so far this year on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

With its debts surging and growth sluggish, China has hit on a new strategy to revitalize its ailing economy. It’s the same as the old strategy. Only this time, it won’t work, Bloomberg News reported. Earlier this month, China’s State Council released guidelines for a new swap program, in which companies can exchange troubled debt with banks in return for equity. The government hopes this will give the firms a chance to restructure on favorable terms, and avoid the prospect of “zombie companies” propped up indefinitely by state-owned lenders.

Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd said on Monday its European routes services have completely halted, and a Seoul court overseeing its receivership process has approved winding down four of its European units, Reuters reported. The four units, Hanjin Shipping Europe GmbH & Co, Hanjin Shipping Hungary Transportation Ltd, Hanjin Shipping Poland Sp and Hanjin Spain S.A., will begin winding down by early November using methods such as declaring bankruptcy or being liquidated, Hanjin said in a regulatory filing.

Economic data released in China last week revealed the government’s two-steps-forward, one-step-back approach to macroeconomic management, the Financial Times reported. While the rest of the world fretted about runaway debt levels in the world’s second-largest economy earlier this year, Chinese economic planners kept their eyes firmly on their target range for gross domestic product growth, set at 6.5 to 7 per cent.

Fresh doubts emerged over the reliability of Chinese statistics on Wednesday after officials said the economy grew 6.7%—for the third consecutive quarter. It was the first time since Beijing started releasing quarterly figures in 1992 that it had achieved such a feat of consistency, The Wall Street Journal reported. Economists say it is rare for a fast-growing economy to clock the same growth quarter after quarter.

China’s housing market is bubbling over. A boom in values in metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and their environs — up 25 per cent or higher over the past year alone, according to Savills China — has spread to smaller cities this year. In August, real estate prices in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen were up 40 per cent over a 12-month period, the Financial Times reported. The even bigger surge in Gu’an highlighted one of the area’s unique selling points. Local developers have touted the county’s proximity to Beijing’s second international airport.

China’s economy is slowing. How bad can it get? China is widely expected to report on Wednesday that its economy grew about 6.7 percent in the third quarter from a year ago. That would match the growth pace China set in the first and second quarters of this year. In economics, stability like that is remarkable — and usually not to be believed, the International New York Times reported. Economists often look beyond the official numbers to find alternative ways to gauge the Chinese economy.

On Wednesday China’s National Bureau of Statistics will report its latest quarterly estimate for economic growth, which has stabilised after the world’s second-largest economy was rocked by a dual market and currency crisis in January. For Beijing, economic stability is paramount as it turns its focus to reining in runaway corporate debt levels, the Financial Times reported.