New bank lending in China jumped less than expected in November, even as the central bank keeps policy accommodative to support a feeble recovery in the world's second-largest economy, Reuters reported. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is expected to deliver more modest policy easing in the coming weeks, following a pledge this week by top leaders to step up policy adjustments to support the economic recovery in 2024, analysts said.

Country Garden Holdings Co., the Chinese builder whose liquidity crunch shook the nation’s financial markets, is likely to avoid its first default on yuan bonds after most holders of a local note agreed not to demand repayment this week, Bloomberg News reported. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange met last week with some holders of the 800 million yuan ($111.5 million) security to seek such an outcome. The bond has a put option Dec. 13 that allows investors to demand repayment before maturity next year.

China’s top leaders including President Xi Jinping vowed to make industrial policy their top economic priority for next year, a message likely to disappoint investors hoping for an emphasis on stimulus, Bloomberg News reported. A readout of the annual economic work conference stressed the use of “technological innovation to lead the construction of a modern industrial system.” It also called to “vigorously” develop the digital economy and the artificial intelligence sector.

China's leaders started a closed-door meeting on Monday to discuss economic targets and map out stimulus plans for 2024, Reuters reported. The annual Central Economic Work Conference, during which President Xi Jinping and other top officials chart the course for the world's second-largest economy next year, is likely to end on Tuesday.

China will spur domestic demand and consolidate and enhance the economic recovery in 2024, the Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, was quoted by state media as saying on Friday, Reuters reported. The government has in recent months unveiled a flurry of measures to shore up a feeble post-pandemic economic recovery that has been held back by a property crisis, local government debt risks, slow global growth and geopolitical tensions.

Self-driving trucking company TuSimple Holdings said on Monday that it is winding down its U.S. business, reducing its workforce to about 30 people as it looks for a buyer for its assets that remain in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The demise of TuSimple’s U.S. operations marks a precipitous fall for the one-time leader in autonomous long-haul trucking. The San Diego-based company in the past year has had to grapple with safety concerns as well as government scrutiny of its dealings with a Chinese trucking startup.

China Evergrande Group said on Tuesday it received notices from court of Guangdong Province over a claim by a unit of Evergrande Property Services for the recovery of about 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in deposit certificate pledge guarantees, Reuters reported. The proceedings brought by unit Jinbi Property Management Company are related to the enforcement of Evergrande Property Services' deposit pledge of about 13.4 billion yuan. The embattled property developer said the notices regarding the claim also includes an estimated interest of 152.1 million yuan.

Credit rating agency Moody’s cut its outlook for Chinese sovereign bonds to negative on Tuesday, citing risks from a slowing economy and a crisis in its property sector, the Associated Press reported. Moody’s said that the downgrade, its first for China since 2017, reflects risks from financing troubles of local and regional governments and state-owned enterprises. The world’s second-biggest economy had been slowing before a 2020 crackdown on excessive borrowing brought on defaults by dozens of property developers.

China Evergrande Group’s chief agitator calling for its liquidation is suddenly backpedaling, but the line of creditors who may take up the torch doesn’t end there, Bloomberg News reported. In Hong Kong’s insolvency system, liquidation lawsuits often start with a creditor’s petition. Top Shine Global Limited of Intershore Consult (Samoa) Ltd., one of Evergrande’s creditors, took up the petitioner’s role, only to surprisingly demur at what was assumed to be a final liquidation hearing Monday.

In January, more than 100 financial sleuths were dispatched to the Guangzhou headquarters of China Evergrande Group, a real estate giant that had defaulted a year earlier under $300 billion of debt. Its longtime auditor had just resigned, and a nation of home buyers had directed its ire at Evergrande, the New York Times reported. Police on watch for protesters stood guard outside the building, and the new team of auditors were issued permits to get in.