A struggling property developer in southern China has become the litmus test for investors trying to answer that question, the Wall Street Journal reported. China Vanke is one of the biggest survivors of the property downturn, which has pushed real-estate companies to default on $140 billion of dollar bonds, according to S&P Global Ratings. It has also left millions of homes unfinished and fueled widespread alarm about a slump in the world’s second-largest economy.

China Construction Bank Corp., the nation’s third-largest commercial lender, was accused in a US lawsuit of enabling a massive fraud in the reinsurance industry that left companies with “monumental losses” and sinking stock prices, Bloomberg News reported. The bank allowed employees to conspire with Israeli insurance startup Vesttoo Ltd. to sell reinsurance policies that weren’t real, according to a complaint filed late Thursday by the Porch Group in Manhattan federal court.

China's car exports surged to a record high in April, data showed on Friday, as domestic sales slipped 5.8% from a year earlier amid intensifying price competition and consumers' caution about spending on big items during a shaky economic recovery, Reuters reported. Car exports jumped 38% year-on-year to 417,000 units in April, continuing strong momentum from the previous month which posted a 39% growth in exports, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said.

Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. said it cannot meet initial deadlines for interest payments on two local bonds and that a state guarantor would step in — marking the first test of a key government program to shore up builder debt, Bloomberg News reported. The company’s onshore unit cannot make the coupon payments on its 3.95% note and its 3.8% bond by an initial deadline of May 9, according to filings.

As China’s industrial capacity emerged as a key trade issue, a surge in Chinese bank loans to the sector has often been cited as evidence that Beijing is engaging in a renewed manufacturing push that could flood global markets with cheap goods, Bloomberg News reported. But an examination of those loans by researchers at Rhodium Group showed a significant amount of the money didn’t go into manufacturing at all.

A Chinese program providing state guarantees to developer bonds will be put to the test this week, when payments come due from one of the most indebted builders, Bloomberg News reported. The sum owed by Country Garden Holdings Co. is relatively small — 65.95 million yuan ($9.1 million) for two interest payments. Both notes are guaranteed by China Bond Insurance Co., a state-owned credit-support provider at the heart of a program introduced by authorities in August 2022 to help private developers avoid liquidity crunches.

One of China’s most-watched developers has told some investors that it readied cash for an upcoming yuan bond payment, a move that may boost a firm that’s faced concern about its liquidity amid a broader property debt crisis. State-backed builder China Vanke Co. told some investors recently that it has readied cash to repay its 1.45 billion yuan ($201 million) note due May 25, according to people familiar with the matter.

China Evergrande Group flagged a delay in publishing its annual results as its liquidators are taking time to "ascertain the current state of affairs" of the embattled property developer, Reuters reported. Preparation of the financial statements of the company for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, and the publication of the 2023 annual report have been delayed, the cash-strapped firm said in an exchange filing on Tuesday. Evergrande's shares, which were suspended from trading on Jan. 29 this year, will continue to remain suspended.

China Vanke Co. will exit non-core operations and divest assets as the developer seeks to boost liquidity amid the sector’s unprecedented downturn, according to a memo from a shareholder meeting on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. The company will “trim down” and adjust its model for raising money, Chairman Yu Liang said in the meeting. It will also exit all businesses except for the three main operations, which focus on property development, real estate management services and rentals.

China’s central bank has advised some regional lenders to curtail their ultra-long bond investments to mitigate risks, Bloomberg News reported. City and rural commercial banks in at least two eastern provinces were instructed in recent weeks to avoid significant exposure to these securities. Under the guidance from local branches of the People’s Bank of China, the regional banks have also been asked to reduce duration and leverage on bond holdings.