Risks to China Recovery Seen as Factory Output Underwhelms
China’s factory output growth was surprisingly feeble in April and fixed-asset investment slowed, rekindling concerns that a nascent recovery is stalling and adding to pressure on policymakers to take action to stimulate the economy. However, China’s already-easy monetary policy and rising home prices complicate the options available to Beijing’s new leadership, leading some analysts to...
China Issues New Rules Targeting Wealth Management Fund Pools: Sources
China’s bond market regulator closed off a loophole on Friday that allowed banks that sell high-yielding wealth management products (WMPs) to evade regulatory requirements by moving money between the WMP accounts they manage and their own proprietary accounts, bond traders at four Chinese banks told Reuters. The four traders, who spoke on condition of anonymity...
Chinese E-commerce Giant Alibaba to Open Sesame with IPO
As Alibaba chief Jack Ma steps aside after building the world’s largest online retailer, the Chinese firm is preparing a huge stock offer prompting comparisons with Facebook — whose profits it dwarfs. In 14 years, Alibaba Group has grown from a start-up in the eastern city of Hangzhou to an Internet commerce giant which bested...
China Inflation Data Shows Central Bank Policy Dilemma
China’s annual consumer inflation rose by more than expected in April while factory prices fell for a 14th consecutive month, highlighting the dilemma facing the central bank as it balances support for the economy against the threat of rising prices. With global growth sputtering, China’s central bank has limited room to move, unlike...
China Opens New Front in War as Yuan Speculation Distorts Export Data
China’s central bank signalled on Wednesday it was prepared to change its monetary strategy to fend off inflows of speculative capital, as Beijing struggles to control a tide of cash washing in from overseas markets. The move came as April exports blew past expectations, which appeared on the surface to indicate that both China’s economy...
China Names Yuan Convertibility Plan as Goal This Year
China signalled it will propose plans this year to allow freer flows of its currency in and out of the nation as part of measures to loosen control over the yuan and interest rates. The plan on yuan capital-account convertibility will also include a way to let individuals make overseas investments, the State Council said...
Huawei-Level 3 Sales Seen Off as China Spy Concerns Ripple
Huawei Technologies Co has emerged as the world’s second-largest maker of networking gear thanks to growth in China, Europe and emerging markets. The US business is a different story. Just US$1.3 billion of the Shenzhen, southern China-based company’s US$35 billion in 2012 sales came from America. Now, amid rising congressional concerns about Chinese government- sanctioned...
China Service Industries Expand at Slower Pace
China’s service industries expanded at a slower pace last month, adding to the drag on growth in the world’s second-biggest economy after manufacturing lost momentum. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 54.5 from 55.6 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement today in...
China’s Inland Provinces Report Slower Growth in First Quarter
Growth in China’s less-developed inland provinces weakened last quarter while expansion in some coastal areas picked up and all regions reported faster gains than nationwide figures, local-government data showed. Expansion in southwestern Sichuan was 10.2 per cent in the first quarter, compared with 2012 full-year growth of 12.6 per cent, while neighbouring Guizhou’s gross domestic...
Alibaba Said to Close US$8 Billion Loans With HSBC, 8 Other Banks
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China’s biggest e-commerce company, closed US$8 billion of new loans with nine banks, a person familiar with the matter said. The lenders were Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG, DBS Bank Ltd, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), JPMorgan Chase & Co...
Alibaba buys US$586 million stake in China’s Sina Weibo
Chinese online retail giant Alibaba has struck a deal to buy a US$586 million stake in popular Chinese social network site Sina Weibo, raising expectations it will announce a stock market listing. The news comes as Alibaba, China’s biggest online retail company, prepares for a handover of power from founder Jack Ma to executive vice...
China Industrial Profit Growth Slows as Economic Recovery Wanes
Growth in Chinese industrial companies’ profits slowed in March, adding to evidence the nation’s economic recovery is losing steam. Net income increased 5.3 per cent from a year earlier to RMB464.9 billion (US$75 billion), down from a 17.2 per cent pace in the first two months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website...
