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☆ Exclusive: China tells banks to roll over local government debts as risks mount - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Local government debt reached 92 trillion yuan ($12.58 trillion), or 76% of the country's economic output in 2022, up from 62.2% in 2019. Reuters is reporting these measures for banks to defuse local debt risks for the first time. Banks are being encouraged to issue new loans to LGFVs to repay bonds and non-standard debt, the sources said. And, Chinese investors are rushing to buy bonds of LGFVs, including from the riskiest issuers, as Beijing's attempts to reduce local debt risks encourages them to bet on an implicit government guarantee. Over 2.1 trillion yuan LGFV bonds matured in the first half of 2023, and another 1.75 trillion yuan in the second half of this year and 1.69 trillion yuan in the first half of 2024, the highest maturity pressure in history, the note said.

Persons: Tyrone Siu, ”, National Financial Regulatory Administration didn't, Banks, CLIFF LGFVs, LGFVs, Simon Cameron, Moore, Kim Coghill Organizations: AIA Central, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Cheung, Cheung Kong Centre, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, REUTERS, Rights, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Treasury, National Financial Regulatory Administration, Communist Party, ANZ Research, UBS, Financial, Beijing, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: Cheung Kong, Hong Kong, China, Rights BEIJING, Beijing, Tianjin, Guizhou, Guangxi

☆ Factbox: China's incumbent and upcoming LNG traders
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Chen Aizhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged towards a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo, Japan November 13, 2017. Below is a list of China's main gas traders and their operations globally, according to information from company sources and traders. In May, PCI became the first Chinese firm to gain long-term access to gas storage at a European gas terminal. CNOOC also plans to create a London desk in the coming year or two, following PCI and Unipec. Sumitomo Corp (8053.T), which has a desk to trade piped gas in London is considering expanding into LNG trading, said a company spokesperson.

Persons: Issei Kato, Keith Martin, Wang Bingsi, CNOOC, Norinco, ENN, Chen Aizhu, Yuka Obayashi, Florence Tan, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, PetroChina International, PCI, London, Gazprom, China National Offshore Oil Company, Gas Co, ENN, LNG, Beijing Gas, Zhejiang Energy, Zhejiang Energy Zhejiang Energy, Exxon Mobil, Mexico, China Gas Holding, China Gas, JOVO Energy, Privately, SOUTH, Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp, Tokyo Gas, Korea's SK E, Sumitomo Corp, Thomson Locations: Futtsu, Tokyo, Japan, London, Singapore, Beijing, Dubai, Houston, Sinopec, China, Jiangsu province, ENN, U.S, Hebei, Shenzhen, CNOOC, Zhejiang Energy Zhejiang, Zhejiang, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, HK, Guangxi province, Yantai, Shandong province, Guangdong, Guangzhou, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA, Asia

☆ Off-the-radar destinations every China visitor should consider
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

JingdezhenLarge chimneys, used for firing porcelain, dot the skyline of Jingdezhen city. gui yong nian/Adobe StockDubbed the porcelain capital of the world, Jingdezhen has been firing quality pieces of “white gold” for more than 1,700 years. For a crash course in the city’s porcelain history, visit the newly built and photogenic Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum of China. LinhaiLinhai's historic city wall stretches more than 6,000 meters in length. Food aside, travelers should leave time to admire this historic city that dates back more than 2,000 years.

☆ China’s economic recovery is on track. But youth unemployment is getting worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s economic recovery appears to be on track as it gradually emerges from three years of its strict zero-Covid policy. But rising youth unemployment underscores the tough challenges ahead for the new government to achieve its economic targets and maintain social stability. “The economic data released today confirmed the recovery in China was well on track,” said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. Recent PMI figures had indicated a strong recovery in China’s economic activity, with February’s factory output from large, state-owned enterprises hitting the highest level in more than a decade. A large number of employment seekers line up outside a job fair in Nanning, Guangxi province on February 18, 2023.

☆ Global asset managers in China grapple with fraudulent investor schemes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Such scams have become so widespread that China's securities regulator issued a rare statement on Thursday cautioning investors against fund-raising schemes purporting to be from foreign asset managers. The online rackets add reputational risks for global asset managers already suffering from trademark disputes, geopolitical worries, and cut-throat competition in China. "Swindlers mushroom when the economy is bad," said an executive at a consultancy that serves global asset managers in China. "Cheaters and life-long learners ... some tech-savvy ones would even copy the programming of a foreign money manager's website," he said. Scams using Van Eck's brands first emerged in China's southern Guangdong and Southwestern Guangxi provinces, and later sprung up in central Sichuan province, the source said.

☆ China’s property crash is prompting banks to offer mortgages to 70-year-olds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Some banks in the cities of Nanning, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Beijing have extended the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80 and 95, according to a number of state media reports. China’s property market is in the midst of a historic downturn. The mortgage borrower’s age plus mortgage length should not usually exceed 70 years, according to previous rules published by the banking regulator. Separately, a branch of Citic Bank has extended the upper age limit on its mortgages to 80, the paper said, citing a bank client manager. Other than Beijing, some banks in Nanning, the provincial capital of Guangxi province, have raised the upper age limit on mortgages to 80, according to the city’s official newspaper Nanguo Zaobao.

☆ China's reopening could boost global growth — and worsen inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —China’s swift reopening after nearly three years of strict coronavirus controls could provide a much-needed boost to global economic growth, but may also stoke inflation just as it has shown signs of falling back. The revival of the world’s second largest economy — and its biggest consumer of commodities — threatens to push up global prices for fuel, industrial metals and food this year. The speed of the reopening, as well as indications that infections may have already peaked, has been surprising, analysts told CNN. Yet, if global food and energy prices start rising again, that could feed through into higher consumer prices. China’s reopening could bump up demand for agricultural goods, while the world is still in the grips of the worst food crisis in modern history.

☆ Column: Key coal import hubs in China perk up as economy reboots: Maguire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China coal use seasonallyBut recent measures aimed at lifting movement restrictions and reviving economic activity in China are already resulting in increased coal import activity at key usage hubs, which stand to impact global coal flows, prices and emissions in 2023. Between January and October, the province cut thermal coal use by 51 million tonnes from the same period in 2021. As a result, many Southern China coal plants are almost overwhelmingly reliant on imported coal. And all major coal ports in that region are now starting to show signs of a recovery in coal import volumes compared with mid-2022, when lockdowns were common throughout the country. And much of that increased coal demand will be fulfilled by imports, which will serve to tighten global coal markets, boost China's coal sector emissions, and potentially raise prices for other coal consumers.

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