China

Authorities in Beijing are ramping up pressure on neighbors to rein in cyberscams after the high-profile kidnapping of a young Chinese actor who says he was trafficked into a criminal enclave in Myanmar, the Wall Street Journal reported. Parts of war-torn Myanmar and other countries in Southeast Asia have become havens for sprawling scam compounds, where hundreds of thousands of people are forced to swindle billions of dollars out of victims in the U.S., China and elsewhere.

President Trump said on Tuesday that he intended to impose a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports into the United States on Feb. 1, the New York Times reported. Speaking at the White House, Mr. Trump said that the tariffs were in response to China’s role in America’s fentanyl crisis. Trump said that China was sending fentanyl to Canada and Mexico, from where it would be transported into the United States. The tariff threat comes after Mr.

China is set to impose a 1 million yuan ($137,309) cap on the annual income of staff at central government-owned financial institutions, three sources said, expanding a campaign against excess against a backdrop of economic slowdown, Reuters reported. Those whose income already exceeds 1 million yuan will have their payout cut, such as middle and senior managers whose income will as much as halve in an overhaul of the compensation structure at 27 financial giants including the "Big Five" banks, six leading insurers and four major bad debt managers.

China Vanke Co. (萬科) rebounded from record lows in credit markets, as people familiar with the matter said the distressed developer had previously told some creditors it had enough cash prepared to repay a local note, the Taipei Times reported. The firm told some creditors prior to turbulence in its bonds and shares yesterday that it had prepared enough cash to repay a 3 billion yuan (US$409.3 million) bond due on Jan. 27.

Longi Green Energy Technology said the Chinese solar panel giant expects to have swung into the red last year with a net loss of as much as CNY8.8 billion (USD1.2 billion) mainly due to intensifying competition, Yicai Global reported. Net loss was likely between CNY8.2 billion and CNY8.8 billion last year, compared with a net profit of CNY10.8 billion (USD1.5 billion) in 2023, the Xi'an-based company said yesterday. Investment losses from a stake in a silicon material producer contributed to the temporary operational loss, it noted.

Defaulted Chinese builder Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. is entering a London court Wednesday for a three-day hearing, looking to exercise a legal mechanism allowing a debtor to potentially complete restructuring without creditors’ full approval, Bloomberg News reported. Company representatives will press for a court sign-off on its restructuring proposal, centered on turning about $5.6 billion of debt into new debt and other types of securities paid to creditors. Many bondholders oppose the terms, and a group of them will tout their proposals that they consider to be more favorable payouts.

China Vanke Co.’s top executive was taken away by police and the Chinese property giant may be assumed by state authorities, the Economic Observer reported, Bloomberg News reported. A task force sent by the local government of Shenzhen, where the state-backed developer is based, has stepped in to run the company, according to the report. Vanke may be taken over or restructured, the report added. The Observer reported separately that Vanke Chief Executive Officer Zhu Jiusheng was taken by police. Zhu didn’t respond to calls seeking comment about the report.

Donald Trump kicked off a new era of Western economic rivalry with Beijing when he took office in 2017. As he prepares for his second term, China’s dominance of global manufacturing is greater than ever, the Wall Street Journal reported. China just posted a trade surplus with the rest of the world of almost $1 trillion for 2024, according to official data released this week.

China’s central bank injected a near record-high amount of liquidity into the banking system to help meet demand for cash even as it looks to support the yuan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The People’s Bank of China on Wednesday pumped 959.5 billion yuan, or about $130.9 billion, worth of liquidity via seven-day reverse repurchase agreements. It was the second-largest such capital injection via the mechanism on record, according to data from the Wind, a local data provider.