Two major Chinese developers are moving closer to unveiling plans to overhaul their local debt, as defaulters shift their restructuring focus from global creditors, Bloomberg New reported. Representatives of Sunac China Holdings Ltd. and Logan Group Co. told creditors in recent days that they aim to finalize and present their debt proposals covering local bonds and loans in the coming months.

China’s exports in August beat expectations and accelerated despite growing trade barriers, giving Beijing a little breathing room in its efforts to lift domestic demand and reawaken the anemic economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Outbound shipments in August rose 8.7% compared with the same period a year earlier, picking up from July’s 7.0% increase, the General Administration of Customs said on Tuesday.

China deepened its push to further open up the economy, eliminating restrictions on the manufacturing sector and expanding opportunities for foreign investment in the health sector in an effort to revive growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Chinese government will reduce its list of industries off-limits to foreign investors to 29 from 31 and fulfill its pledge of zero restrictions on the manufacturing sector, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Commerce Ministry said in a joint statement on Sunday. The new list, set to take effect Nov.

Country Garden Holdings Co.’s sales slump dragged on in August, exacerbating the Chinese developer’s liquidity woes as it battles a wind-up petition, Bloomberg News reported. Contracted sales for August declined 57% from a year earlier to 3.43 billion yuan ($483 million), following a 72% drop in July, according to an exchange filing on Thursday. The poor sales underscore the challenges facing the distressed real estate giant, which is counting on a turnaround in revenue to appease debt holders and fight off liquidation.

A Chinese central bank official raised the possibility of further relaxing the amount of reserves banks are required to hold but signaled that no aggressive monetary easing is in the pipeline amid growing calls for Beijing to consider bolder moves to revive sluggish growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The cut on the reserve requirement ratio at the beginning of this year is still showing its effect,” Zou Lan, head of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy department, said at a press briefing on Thursday.

China’s property crisis has hit local governments hard, drying up a key source of income as land sales crumble. Fiscal reform plans have sparked hope relief is on the way, but economists see little progress, the Wall Street Journal reported. Cash-strapped and indebted, regional governments are seeking alternative revenue streams to compensate for falling land and tax income. That is a worrying sign that fiscal conditions are deteriorating, analysts say, and bodes ill for China’s sputtering economy.

China's largest property developer Country Garden on Friday further delayed the release of its 2023 financial results, as it needed more time amid an ongoing debt restructuring, Reuters reported. The firm had previously delayed the results in March, saying it needed more time to collect information for making appropriate accounting estimates and judgements. "The Group will finalize and publish the 2023 annual results and despatch the 2023 annual report as soon as practicable," the debt-laden property developer said in an exchange filing.

Some Russian companies are facing growing delays and rising costs on payments with trading partners in China, leaving transactions worth tens of billions of yuan in limbo, Russian sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters. Russian companies and officials for a few months have pointed to delays in transactions after Chinese banks tightened compliance following Western threats of secondary sanctions for dealing with Russia. The sources said the problem has intensified this month.