China

Chinese banks trimmed benchmark interest rates on loans to households and businesses, a telegraphed move that follows earlier rate cuts aimed at reigniting a fading economic recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported. Economists say lower borrowing costs might not be the right medicine for China’s economy, however, as households and businesses have shown little appetite to borrow with debt levels already high and prospects for jobs and growth deeply uncertain.

A development bank China launched with its fellow Brics countries was supposed to reshape international finance. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now risks turning it into a zombie bank, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China's economy stumbled in May with industrial output and retail sales growth missing forecasts, Reuters reported. The economic rebound seen earlier this year has lost momentum in the second quarter, prompting China's central bank to cut some key interest rates this week for the first time in nearly a year, with expectations of more to come.

Beijing is planning major steps to revive the country’s flagging economy, including the possibility of billions of dollars in new infrastructure spending, and looser rules to encourage property investors to buy more homes, the Wall Street Journal reported. The push follows a series of interest rate cuts by China’s central bank this week, including one on Thursday which cut a key policy rate for the first time since August, as fresh data showed the country’s economic recovery is flickering out.

China's central bank lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months on Tuesday, to help restore market confidence and prop up a stalling post-pandemic recovery in the world's second-largest economy, Reuters reported. The cut to the lending rate signals possible easing for longer-term rates over the next week and beyond as demand and investor sentiment weaken, adding to the case for urgent policy stimulus to sustain growth.

China's new bank loans picked up in May from the previous month, as the central bank kept policy accommodative to support the economy, but signs of slowing momentum have raised expectations that more stimulus may be needed to sustain the recovery, Reuters reported. The weaker-than-expected credit data could strengthen the case for policymakers to roll out more support steps, including a cut in the benchmark lending rate this month, analysts said, amid deflationary risks and mounting local government debt.

Just last year, billionaire Wang Jianlin had appeared to cement his reputation as one of the few remaining Chinese property tycoons to sidestep a wave of debt defaults sweeping the industry, Bloomberg News reported. The Dalian Wanda Group founder was confident enough in his financial position to offer help to a fellow Chinese mogul who wanted to sell a portfolio of shopping malls for 700 million yuan ($98 million), according to people familiar with the matter.

Days after welcoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of efforts to reset relations with the US, Saudi Arabia turned its attention to boosting ties with one of Washington’s main competitors: China, Bloomberg News reported. For the past two days, the Saudi capital has played host to the largest ever Chinese-Arab business gathering. Under the chandeliers and vaulted ceilings of Riyadh’s grandest conference hall, Saudi officials spoke of integrating China into the Arab region and Chinese executives said they stood ready to “de-Americanize” the world’s top oil exporter.

In the latest attempt to boost consumer spending, China’s largest state-run banks lowered interest rates on deposits last week. The rate cuts, the second such reductions since last year, reflect a growing concern that the world’s second-largest economy has not rebounded as strongly as expected after lifting its restrictive “zero-Covid” measures, the New York Times reported. Six commercial banks all announced that they had lowered the rate for demand deposits, essentially a checking account, to 0.2 percent from 0.25 percent.

China's exports shrank much faster than expected in May while imports extended declines with a grim outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets, raising doubts about the fragile economic recovery, Reuters reported. The world's second-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter thanks to robust services consumption and a backlog of orders following years of COVID disruptions, but factory output has slowed as rising interest rates and inflation squeeze demand in the United States and Europe.