In January, the Catalan regional government in Spain created a specialized desk dedicated to increasing investment and trade with China, the world’s second-largest economy. In July, the Port of Barcelona approved plans to build a terminal with direct access to the port’s railway for electric vehicles that China is exporting to Europe, the New York Times reported. Last month, during a visit to Beijing by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the Chinese wind turbine giant Envision Energy agreed to team up with his government and invest $1 billion to build a green hydrogen industrial park.

Sweden’s Northvolt AB is likely to complete an expected funding round of about $300 million next week, as the troubled battery-cell maker races to get its finances on a more stable footing, Bloomberg News reported. The final steps are being drawn out because of the complex documentation needed for the deal involving customers, investors and lenders, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. While the bailout is progressing, the timeline to complete the new package may yet move, the person added.

The Schoeller Group is in exclusive talks to buy Signa’s Upper West tower in Berlin, according to people familiar with the matter, in one of the most closely watched property transactions in Germany, Bloomberg News reported. The industrialist family’s investment office has been picked for exclusive negotiations after several rounds of bids for the building that is part of Austrian tycoon Rene Benko’s defunct empire. The insolvency administrator of Signa Prime Selection AG had been nearing a deal to sell the property for more than €400 million ($432 million), Bloomberg previously reported.

Gloucestershire Constabulary finance chiefs have dismissed fears they could go bust '"like Birmingham City Council" amid concerns over funding, BBC.com reported. The force said that it would not face bankruptcy as concerns grew over plans for a stark rise in debt, a recruitment freeze and a "blip" in officer leaving. According to a report by Peter Robinson, the Office for Police and Crime Commissioner's (OPCC) interim chief finance officer, the force needed to find cumulative budget savings of £7m next year, with an increase year on year.

Volkswagen AG’s truckmaking brand Scania plans to equip all its future electric trucks with Northvolt batteries, in a vote of confidence for the cash-strapped Swedish battery maker as it works to seal up a rescue package, Bloomberg News reported. “We are now shifting over. For the future, all of our currently sold battery electric vehicles will come with Northvolt cells,” Scania Chief Executive Officer Christian Levin said in a call with reporters on Monday. The volumes Northvolt is currently supplying to Scania are “satisfactory to us given the total market right now,” Levin said.

German landlord Adler Group SA is looking to refinance senior debt it took out as part of a restructuring earlier this year in an effort to lower its servicing costs, Bloomberg News reported. Adler is looking at a number of options to reduce the cost of its first lien debt, including using proceeds from asset sales to repay part of it. It has also approached investors to refinance some debt at a lower rate. Talks about Adler’s options are at preliminary stages and might not lead to a deal.

Volkswagen plans to shut at least three factories in Germany, lay off tens of thousands of staff and shrink its remaining plants in Europe's biggest economy as it plots a deeper-than-expected overhaul, the company's works council head said on Monday, Reuters reported. Europe's biggest carmaker has been negotiating for weeks with unions over plans to revamp its business and cut costs, including considering plant closures on home soil for the first time, in a blow to Germany's industrial prowess.

Warnings over France’s financial situation grew on Friday when the Moody’s ratings agency issued a negative outlook for the country’s sovereign debt rating amid concerns about the nation’s rapidly rising debt and deficit, the New York Times reported. The outlook reflects what Moody’s said were heightened risks of political gridlock in France as Prime Minister Michel Barnier struggles to get a newly elected — and deeply divided — Parliament to pass an austerity budget. France has become one of the most financially troubled countries in Europe, with a ballooning debt and deficit.