China

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, founded the Belt and Road Initiative a decade ago to use the country’s economic might to enlarge its geopolitical heft and counter the influence of the United States and other industrialized democracies. China has since disbursed close to $1 trillion to mostly developing countries, largely in loans, to build power plants, roads, airports, telecommunications networks and other infrastructure, the New York Times reported. Mr.

China is tightening curbs on short-selling activities as authorities step up efforts to shore up a struggling stock market, Bloomberg News reported. The Securities Regulatory Commission said with effect from Oct. 30, hedge funds wishing to short sell a stock must hold 100% of the value of the transaction in their account while other investors need to have at least 80%. Other rules that came into force Monday restrict lending of shares by strategic investors and senior management and increase the supervision of “various arbitrage activities,” it added in a statement on Saturday.

China's central bank ramped up liquidity support to the banking system as it rolled over medium-term policy loans on Monday, but kept the interest rate unchanged amid concerns about the risk of more sharp yuan declines, Reuters reported. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is walking a tightrope between keeping liquidity ample to aid a struggling economy and stabilising the yuan amid expectations of "higher for longer" U.S. rates.

Hui Ka Yan, once one of the world’s richest men, led China Evergrande through its rise and fall. His failures in the aftermath made the property developer’s collapse a bigger problem for the country’s slumping housing market. In 2021, when Evergrande slid into financial distress, the real estate giant turned to government officials for help resolving a mountain of debt that it couldn’t repay. Chinese authorities and regulators agreed to help defuse the developer’s risks—with conditions.

China’s local authorities are finding it more expensive to sell bonds, the latest sign of rising stress as policymakers ramp up borrowings to stimulate growth and defuse short-term payment risks, Bloomberg News reported. Of the local government yuan bonds sold so far this year, 50 carry coupons with a premium of more than 25 basis points with comparable sovereign debt, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. That’s the most since 2020.

Kenya’s President William Ruto sought $1 billion more in loans from China Monday, despite rising public debt that has now reached $70 billion in the Eastern African country, according to National Treasury figures for 2022/2023, the Associated Press reported. President Ruto was was one of a number of global leaders in Beijing to attend the tenth anniversary meeting of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious plan that aims to connect Africa, Asia and Europe through massive infrastructure and energy projects.

The founding family of Country Garden recently loaned the embattled Chinese property developer $300 million interest free, and the family was also trying to sell its private jet, a Chinese online news outlet,The Paper, reported on Friday. Citing insiders, The Paper said the family was seeking to support liquidity for China's largest private property developer, which has missed coupon payments on some dollar bonds since last month, but has not defaulted.

Big banks in Britain are preparing for any future escalation of Western sanctions on China and have shared their "scenario planning" with the British and U.S. governments, a senior banking official has told Reuters. The project involves sharing lessons learned from other sanctions frameworks, including those on Russia, and discussions about the effect any measures imposed on China might have, Neil Whiley, director of sanctions at lobby group UK Finance, said.

Lackluster inflation and declining trade numbers in China have stoked concerns that the world’s second-largest economy is still on shaky footing, despite recent signs of stabilization, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices unexpectedly flatlined in September after rebounding in August, pointing to weak demand and suggesting only a limited effect from Beijing’s recent efforts to put a floor under the economy. Outbound shipments also continued to contract last month, though at a less steep pace than August, according to official data released on Friday.