China’s hoard of foreign-exchange reserves continued to shrink in December, recording the biggest monthly drop ever and falling overall to its lowest level in nearly three years as worries intensify over the country’s economic slowdown, The Wall Street Journal reported. With the $107.9 billion drop in December, Beijing’s foreign-exchange reserves have fallen every month but one since May. The data suggest the central bank is having to spend huge amounts of dollars to support an increasingly beleaguered yuan amid decelerating economic growth and the onset of higher U.S.

Trading was halted on China’s stock market on Thursday morning, as stocks plummeted over concerns about the country’s currency, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. It has been a rocky start for the market in the new year, with trading volatile throughout the week. The Chinese market also closed early on Monday after stocks sank precipitously. The latest tumult is likely to add to worries about the Chinese economy and global growth. China’s currency has been falling steadily, as investors pull money out of the country and China’s economy pulls back.

China's dry-bulk shipping industry will likely see a surge in bankruptcies this year as freight rates hit record lows and the country's demand for imports wanes, consultancy Shanghai International Shipping Institute (SISI) said. A number of firms have already gone bust over the past year as the industry grapples with the worst downturn on record due to stalling demand for iron ore and coal from China and a global surplus of vessels. With benchmark freight rates now at an all-time low, finances will be further stretched for shippers.

China stocks rose on Tuesday as financial regulators and the central bank moved aggressively to restore confidence a day after a plunge roiled global markets, the Irish Times reported. Stocks fell more than 2 per cent in early trade, prompting fears that exchanges were set for a second day of panic selling after a 7 per cent dive on Monday set off a new “circuit breaker” mechanism, suspending trade nation-wide. But stocks soon moved back into positive territory thanks to a mixture of policy intervention and hard cash.

Asian markets tumbled on the first day of trading in 2016, with declines so steep in China that authorities halted all mainland trading before the end of the day, The Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts cited a number of reasons for the selling, including China’s disappointing manufacturing data, reported earlier Monday, and the coming removal of a ban on major shareholders from selling stakes, put in place during the summer stock crash. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 6.9%, its biggest decline on record for the first trading day of the year, before trading was halted.

Beijing Capital Tire Co. Ltd. (BCT), producer of the BCT, Jinglun and Autoguard brands, declared bankruptcy in October, a Chinese industry official has confirmed. According to Chinese media reports dated June 25 and Nov. 16, BCT had suspended production since early 2015 and started laying off 1,000 employees, or half of its total staff, about six months ago. BCT, an affiliate of state-owned conglomerate Beijing Capital Group in Beijing, reports having annual capacity of 7.1 million radial car, light truck and medium truck tires at two factories in the Beijing area.

China had one of the best-performing stock markets in the world in 2015. Yet it was a dismal year for Chinese markets, The Wall Street Journal reported. Chinese stocks suffered an unprecedented summer crash that wiped out 43%, or $5 trillion, of their value at one point. That was followed by an abrupt 2% currency devaluation in August that sent shock waves through global markets. Bold reforms seen as crucial to Beijing’s efforts to turn around a slowing economy, such as a modern stock-listing system and lighter capital controls, stalled as the market turmoil unnerved authorities.

The People’s Bank of China has suspended at least two foreign banks from conducting some cross-border yuan business until late March, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The clampdown comes as the growing offshore-onshore spread makes it profitable for those who skirt capital controls to buy the currency at a discount in Hong Kong and sell it in Shanghai.

China’s insurance regulators are raising alarms about risks in the industry, warning that aggressive stock buying by insurers and sales of high-return products could damage the country’s financial system, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has issued at least six statements on risk control since late November, including a demand for better disclosure and limits on the size of high-return products.

Chinese corporate defaults will likely spread next year as borrowing costs climb, financial companies surveyed by Bloomberg said yesterday. All 22 bond traders, analysts and others surveyed forecast China’s corporate default rate will rise in 2016, while over 70 percent expect the extra yield on corporate notes to increase. The premium on five-year AA rated company securities over government notes has risen to 173 basis points after plunging to an eight-year low of 169.2 basis points last month.