China’s biggest cities including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou eased requirements for home downpayments and mortgages, following through on the central government’s aid for the embattled property sector, Bloomberg News reported. Shanghai and Shenzhen reduced downpayment requirements by 10 percentage points to a minimum of 20% for first-time buyers and 30% for second-home purchasers, according to two separate statements on Monday and Tuesday. The floor for mortgage rates was also lowered.

China's economy is set to grow 5% this year, after a "strong" first quarter, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, upgrading its earlier forecast of 4.6% expansion though it expects slower growth in the years ahead, Reuters reported. The global lender's new projections come as Beijing steps up efforts to shore up an uneven recovery in the world's second-biggest economy, which has stumbled in the face of a protracted property crisis and its ripple effects across investors, consumers and businesses.

China's latest steps to revive its struggling property market could pose risks to banks operating in lower-tier cities, S&P Global said on Monday, Reuters reported. The measures announced earlier this month such as cutting down payment requirements and removing the floor for mortgage rates are expected to temporarily increase property demand, but the increased leverage could also cause an uptick in mortgage defaults, according to a S&P Global report. Property prices in smaller tier-three cities are expected to decline about 14% through the 2024-2025 period, the report said.

Doing business in Hong Kong increasingly comes with a new risk: the political cost of upsetting Beijing. Chinese clients recently dropped one big Chicago law firm after it recused itself from a politically sensitive case, the New York Times reported. A former Wall Street banker was muzzled for writing a “Hong Kong is dead” column. And Google was effectively cornered into enforcing a ban on a popular protest anthem. In all areas of life, Hong Kong is hewing closer to mainland China, blurring distinctions that once cemented the city’s status as mostly free from the politics of Beijing.

China has a very big housing problem with nearly four million apartments that no one wants to buy, according to a New York Times commentary. Xi Jinping, the country’s leader, and his deputies have called on the government to buy them. The plan, announced last week, is the boldest move yet by Beijing to stop the tailspin of a housing crisis that threatens one of the world’s biggest economies. It was also not nearly enough, according to the commentary.

A woman accused of converting bitcoin into cash and property to help hide the proceeds of a 5 billion pound ($6.4 billion) fraud was jailed for nearly seven years on Friday for money laundering after a trial in a London court, Reuters reported. Prosecutors said Wen Jian helped hide the source of money allegedly stolen from nearly 130,000 Chinese investors in fraudulent wealth schemes between 2014 and 2017. She was not alleged to have been involved in the underlying fraud, which prosecutors said was masterminded by another woman who Wen believed was independently wealthy.

The trial of exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui began this week in New York, where he’s accused of swindling more than $1 billion from investors in a complex fraud scheme that netted him luxuries including a $26 million New Jersey mansion and a $37 million yacht, Bloomberg News reported. Opening arguments could start this week, once a jury is selected.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle said on Wednesday its unit had received a letter from the country's local administrative bodies demanding repayment of 1.9 billion yuan ($262.42 million) given as subsidies and incentives, Bloomberg News reported. The local bodies sent a letter of demand for Evergrande Automotive Holdings to terminate a series of investment cooperation agreements made between the parties since April 29, 2019, the electric vehicle (EV) unit of China Evergrande said in a statement.

Several cities across China have lowered down payment and mortgage loan interest rates, in response to the latest wave of stimulus measures to boost lackluster property demand, state media reported, Reuters reported. The down payment for first-time homebuyers in Hefei city and Wuhan city have been lowered from 20% to 15% - the lowest ratio allowed that the central bank announced last week, Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday. The ratio for second-time homebuyers was cut from 30% to 25%, the report said.

Oaktree Capital Management took ownership of Italy’s Inter Milan, one of the most storied football clubs in Europe, after its Chinese owner defaulted on a loan, Bloomberg News reported. The US fund has taken control of the club as of Wednesday after conglomerate Suning Holding Group Co. failed to repay €395 million ($428 million), Oaktree said in an emailed statement. The collateral backing the debt was a majority stake in the football club, Bloomberg News reported.