Chinese assets have had a terrible year—but China’s currency is gaining ground as an international payments option, the Wall Street Journal reported. The yuan’s status as a global currency still faces a huge obstacle in the form of China’s own capital controls. Even so, rising willingness to conduct trade in yuan could help insulate China’s economy, at least to an extent, in the event sanctions were imposed in a hypothetical future conflict with the West.

China's top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy, Reuters reported. With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.

China’s biggest banks are lowering the deposit rates offered to savers, a move that could pave the way for the central bank to make interest-rate cuts to spur economic growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. Five state-owned lenders and joint-stock bank China Merchants Bank said the rate cuts took effect on Friday. The five were Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and Bank of Communications.

China Aoyuan Group Ltd. filed for chapter 15 protection in New York on Wednesday, a move by the defaulted property developer to seek U.S. court recognition for its offshore debt restructuring and ward off litigation, Bloomberg News reported. The Guangzhou-based developer, which had about $6 billion of total offshore interest-bearing liabilities as of the end of 2022, is undergoing restructuring in Hong Kong, Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands after deciding last year to forgo paying debt.

A Chinese developer partially owned by the southern city of Shenzhen warned it can’t pay interest due Wednesday as it races to win support from creditors to extend dollar bond deadlines, raising the risk of its first default, Bloomberg News reported. China South City Holdings Ltd. said in a stock exchange filing that it doesn’t have the resources to pay the interest of its 9% notes due July 2024 — with $235 million of principal outstanding — by the end of a grace period Dec.

Chinese banks are putting bad loans up for sale at a record pace, as regulators push for faster disposal of sour debts amid rising consumer defaults during an ailing post-COVID economic recovery, Reuters reported. Issuance this year of securities backed by non-performing loans (NPLs) is set to jump about 40% from a year ago to a record, data from a ratings agency showed, as lenders rush to offload distressed assets linked to mortgage, credit card and consumer borrowings.

China's state planner on Monday said it aimed to stimulate private investment with a greater effort in 2024 and continue to enhance the "positive" economic recovery trend, Reuters reported. China would expand consumption of renewable energy, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement, adding that it would actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

China's State Council, led by Premier Li Qiang, on Sunday published rules that come into force on May 1 for the supervision and management of non-banking payment institutions, Reuters reported. The rules, among other measures, implement tougher licensing regulations and call for stronger risk management of non-bank payment platforms to prevent misappropriation of funds and other criminal activities, People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, and the Ministry of Justice said in a joint statement on Sunday.

China's property sector worsened in November as negative home buyer sentiment and indebted developers drove down sales and investment, while broader retail sector activity missed forecasts, suggesting more support is needed to shore up demand, Reuters reported. The world's second-largest economy has struggled to mount a strong post-COVID recovery as distress in the housing market, local government debt risks and weakening global demand slowed momentum.

Chinese property giant Country Garden will sell a stake in a commercial center operator for about $428 million, using the proceeds to help restructure offshore debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. The indebted developer said Thursday that a group subsidiary will sell its entire 1.79% stake in Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group for 3.07 billion yuan ($428.0 million). Net proceeds of the disposal will be used to restructure offshore debt. Zhuhai operates 494 commercial centers, including 290 owned by Dalian Wanda.