Factory activity in China contracted at its fastest pace in a year in April, an early reading of a survey showed on Thursday, suggesting that economic conditions are still deteriorating despite increasingly aggressive stimulus efforts by the Chinese central bank, the International New York Times reported. The HSBC/Markit preliminary purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.2 in April, remaining below the 50-point level, which separates growth in activity from a contraction on a monthly basis. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 49.6, equal to March’s final figure.

The troubled Chinese property developer, Kaisa Group, defaulted on its overseas debt, a situation that could make Western investors more wary of the country’s real estate market, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Once a darling of global money managers, the developer, with its trail of financial problems, is now a case study for the risks of investing in China. For years, big investors plowed money into Kaisa, attracted by the tempting returns and the country’s soaring real estate market.

Chinese policy makers are dealing with a financial conundrum. Overall economic growth is slipping, which argues for looser monetary policy. But the risk is that any new money is diverted to the country’s frothy stock markets, the International New York Times reported. Against this backdrop, the central bank and securities regulator appear to be taking coordinated action. On Sunday, China’s central bank freed up roughly $200 billion for new lending, a widely expected stimulus measure devised to pump more money into the economy.

Chinese economic expansion cooled to 7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, a figure that exceeded forecasts for a decline below the crucial 7 per cent threshold, but adding to fears that the world’s second biggest economy is facing difficulties, the Irish Times reported. The latest figure was better than the forecasts by multiple institutions that first-quarter growth would fall slightly below 7 per cent due to weak investment and demand.

Just months after resigning, the former head of the embattled Chinese property developer, the Kaisa Group, returned unexpectedly to the helm, raising doubts about whether the company’s rescue by a rival will move forward, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The surprise comeback on Monday of the chairman and chief executive, Guo Yingcheng, is the latest twist in the Kaisa story. Once a darling of global investors, Kaisa started to stumble last fall, after the government blocked the sale of some of its properties in Shenzhen, its largest market.

Hebei Financing Investment Guarantee Group, the country’s second largest financing guarantee company has lost its ability to guarantee nearly 50 billion yuan worth of loans, signalling the spread of risk in the country’s financial system, The Australian reported. According to report from Caixin, the company is no longer in the position to guarantee loans, and scores of banks, trusts, brokers and funds are facing the prospect of a default on their loans. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of the Hebei provincial government.

China’s new development bank will strive to be corruption free, maintain environmentally sound policies and work with a streamlined bureaucracy, the interim head of the institution, Jin Liqun, said on Saturday, the International New York Times reported. “We are committed to building a lean, clean and green bank,” Mr. Jin told the Singapore Forum, a gathering of Asian business and political leaders.

A onetime restaurant chain that became the first Chinese company to default on the principal on its local debt could be a test of Beijing’s willingness to give market forces a greater role in the economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a statement on the Shenzhen stock exchange website on Tuesday, Cloud Live Technology Group Co. said it was short 240.6 million yuan ($39.2 million) needed to pay back 400 million yuan in debt it sold three years ago.

The sudden rush to join China’s new Asian development bank by this week’s deadline, including last-minute applications by countries hardly considered Beijing’s best friends, astonished even the Chinese, the International New York Times reported. Few in Beijing had believed that Taiwan, still considered a breakaway territory by China, would want in. Same for Norway, whose relations with the Chinese have been chilly since its decision five years ago to award the Nobel Peace Prize to a dissident Chinese writer.

China will introduce on May 1 a program to insure bank deposits, the government said on Tuesday, ushering in an overhaul seen as vital for freeing up the highly protected banking sector, the International New York Times reported. Deposits of up to 500,000 renminbi, or about $81,000, will be insured under the program, which is expected to help reduce financial risks and protect the rights and interests of savers, the State Council, or cabinet, said on the government’s website.