China

A China Evergrande Group unit in mainland China has become the target of a liquidation petition, as creditors step up efforts to recover assets from the fallen property giant, Bloomberg News reported. The petition was filed against Guangzhou Kailong Real Estate by Guangdong Vanward New Electric Co. to a court in southern Guangzhou city, according to a Shenzhen stock exchange filing late Wednesday. Fully owned by Evergrande, Kailong has a stake of around 60% in Hengda Real Estate, which is the developer’s main property operation onshore, an exchange filing shows.

Chinese regulators have asked some money management firms to report the duration of any new bond fund products, in the latest effort to curb risks in the market, Bloomberg News reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has also significantly slowed down the approval process for new bond funds and asked some fund companies to document their existing bond fund durations. A rally in Chinese government bonds is raising concerns from regulators that banks and investment funds are exposing themselves to excessive risk if the market turns.

China Vanke Co.’s sales slump extended in July, adding to liquidity pressure at the developer that’s become the latest focal point of the nation’s property crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Contracted sales for the month slumped 13% from a year earlier to 19.2 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), following a 29.3% slide in June, corporate filings show. The total was 24% lower on month. The protracted sales slump is escalating investor concern over its liquidity.

A battle between China’s central bank and government-bond buyers is intensifying, as traders keep snapping up the debt despite growing evidence of official displeasure, Bloomberg News reported. On one side is the People’s Bank of China, which skipped offering lenders short-term cash for the first time since 2020 on Wednesday — a sign it was seeking to limit leveraged buying of government debt.

China’s trade figures for July were a mixed bag, with exports slowing unexpectedly but imports growing at a faster-than-expected clip, signaling some improvement in domestic demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. Outbound shipments rose 7.0% from a year earlier in July, down from June’s 8.6% increase, said the General Administration of Customs on Wednesday. That was below the 9.4% growth expected by economists in a Wall Street Journal survey, but analysts say the outlook for exports still appears bright.

China Evergrande Group is seeking to recover $6 billion from its founder and others amid the former property giant’s continuing liquidation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The heavily indebted Chinese developer said late Monday that it is seeking to claw back the money from seven individuals, including founder Hui Ka Yan, his ex-wife, a former chief executive and a former chief financial officer.

A subsidiary of the People’s Bank of China asked rural lenders to be mindful of risks in government-bond trading and refrain from buying the securities in large sizes, Bloomberg News reported. The Jiangsu branch of the monetary authority — located in one of China’s wealthiest provinces and close to financial center Shanghai — this week told rural commercial lenders to control risks associated with their positions in long-term sovereign notes. The banks were told not to aggressively buy the bonds when state lenders are selling them.

Pakistan has secured commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to rollover debt for a year, a boost for the nation as it awaits a final approval for its new $7 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The amount of rollovers will be the same as last year, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told reporters in Islamabad after a parliamentary committee meeting. Pakistan has $12 billion in bilateral loans that have been extended for the past few years.