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☆ China wealth manager Zhongzhi flags insolvency, $64 bln in liabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BEIJING, Nov 23 (Reuters) - China's Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, a leading wealth manager, told investors it is heavily insolvent with up to $64 billion in liabilities, threatening to reignite concerns that the country's property debt crisis is spilling over into the broader financial sector. The firm, which has sizable exposure to China's real estate sector, apologised to its investors in a letter that said it had total liabilities of about 420 billion yuan ($58 billion) to 460 billion yuan ($64 billion). The liabilities compared to Zhongzhi's estimated total assets of about 200 billion yuan, according to the letter, which was issued on Wednesday and was seen by Reuters. 'ENORMOUS' HOLESigns of trouble at the Zhongzhi group first came to light in July when Zhongrong International Trust Co, a leading trust company controlled by Zhongzhi, missed payments on dozens of investment products. "The Zhongzhi group deeply apologises for the losses caused to investors.

Persons: Zhongzhi, Xu, Xing Zhaopeng, Christopher Beddor, Beddor, Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo, Sumeet Chatterjee, Muralikumar Organizations: Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Reuters, International Trust Co, Big, ANZ, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, Zhongzhi, China's, China

☆ China wealth manager Zhongzhi flags insolvency, liabilities of $64 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The firm, which has sizable exposure to China's real estate sector, apologised to its investors in a letter that said it had total liabilities of about 420 billion yuan ($58 billion) to 460 billion yuan ($64 billion). The liabilities compared to Zhongzhi's estimated total assets of about 200 billion yuan ($27 billion), according to the letter, which was issued on Wednesday and was seen by Reuters. China's highly indebted property sector has been reeling from a liquidity crunch since 2020. Signs of trouble at the Zhongzhi group first came to light in July when Zhongrong International Trust Co, a leading trust company controlled by Zhongzhi, missed payments on dozens of investment products. "The Zhongzhi group deeply apologises for the losses caused to investors.

Persons: Zhongzhi, Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo, Sumeet Chatterjee, Muralikumar Organizations: Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Reuters, International Trust Co, Big, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, Zhongzhi, China's, China

☆ China wealth manager Zhongzhi flags insolvency, $64 billion in liabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Asian shares stumble as investors brace for central bank packed week
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

S&P 500 futures advanced 0.2% while Nasdaq futures edged 0.1% higher. Also, Chinese trust firm Zhongrong International Trust Co, with exposure to Chinese property developers, said over the weekend it was unable to make payments on some trust products on time. The euro recovered 0.1% to $1.0673 in early Asia trade, after slumping to a 3-1/2 month low of $1.0629 last week as the European Central Bank signalled its rate hikes could be over. Brent crude futures rose 0.3% at $94.20 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.4% at $91.14. Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: BOE, BOJ, Tommy Xie, Jerome Powell, Chris Weston, Weston, Kazuo Ueda, Cash Treasuries, Stella Qiu, Lincoln Organizations: SYDNEY, Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, Nasdaq, Japan's Nikkei, China Evergrande, HK, International Trust Co, Greater, Greater China Research, OCBC Bank, U.S . Federal, Fed, U.S ., Bank of England, Treasury, Amazon, European Central Bank, Brent, . West Texas, Thomson Locations: China, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Hong Kong, Beijing, Greater China, Tokyo

☆ Morning Bid: Chips are down
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The global chip sector is stealing the spotlight from major central banks, after the world's top contract chipmaker raised concerns over demand, hitting share prices of semiconductor stocks. In a week packed with central bank meetings, decisions are also due from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday and Bank of England on Thursday. After the European Central Bank's fireworks last week, the euro will be closely watched as a signal for whether the backlash from more hawkish ECB members is gaining any traction with traders and investors. The BOE is likely to hike interest rates for the 15th time later in the week, while the Fed seems set for a hawkish pause. One more little complication is the steady grind higher in oil prices to new highs that is stoking inflation concerns, just as central banks in most developed economies are at or approaching the end of their tightening cycles.

Persons: Vidya Ranganathan, chipmaker, There's, Kazuo Ueda, BOE, Guindos, Panetta, Sam Holmes Organizations: Vidya, Reuters, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, International, Co, of, U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of England, ECB, Thomson Locations: Asia, Detroit

☆ Chinese state firms' help to troubled shadow bank does little to address investor concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BEIJING, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The involvement of two Chinese state-owned financial firms in Zhongrong International Trust Co's operations and management may diffuse risk at the troubled shadow bank but does little to ease concerns about missed payments, analysts and investors said. It was not immediately clear whether the support by the two firms was engineered by the Chinese authorities, but Beijing has previously bailed out troubled financial firms by roping in state entities to contain broader contagion risk. The agreement allows the two financial firms to "provide professional services for operations and management" of Zhongrong, it said, adding the move would not impact its debt ownership and legal relationship in trust products. That would further dampen investors' confidence in trust products." "It's good news and at least provides some clarity," said Zhang, who is an investor in a Zhongrong trust product and gave only his surname due to sensitivity of the matter.

Persons: Zhongrong, They'll, Zhang, Xu, I've, Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo, Sumeet Chatterjee Organizations: Trust, Citic Trust, CCB, Citic Group, China Construction Bank, National Financial Regulatory Administration, People's Bank of China, Citic, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing

The London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper price has been oscillating in a $7,800-8,870 per metric ton range since May as old and new price drivers compete. The gyration in net positioning is partly a reflection of copper's own choppy range-trading with many black box funds configured to react to changes in directional momentum. Money managers have lifted outright short positions on CME copper to 69,707 contracts, the largest collective bear bet on lower prices since early 2020. The net short position of 18,127 contracts is a sign the bears are in the ascendancy. The key takeaway from speculative positioning on both U.S. and London markets is that fund players are betting bigger on copper.

Persons: Ricardo Moreno, San Pedro de Barva, Juan Carlos Ulate, Long, Copper, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, London Metal Exchange, CME, Zhongrong International, Co, Fund, Thomson, Reuters Locations: San Pedro, Costa Rica, China, Beijing, London, United States, Europe

☆ Furious Chinese investors lodge complaints over trust firm's missed payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Angry investors in trust products of a leading Chinese shadow bank have lodged complaint letters with regulators, pleading with the authorities to step in after the big Chinese trust firm missed payments on dozens of investment products. "Every day, a large number of people gathered at business departments of Zhongrong Trust are praying for the firm can give an explanation to investors ... investors are immersed in unlimited horror and fear every day." In the letter to the NFRA , investors demanded that Zhongrong provide reports of the underlying assets of defaulted products. "We hope officials can attach great attention to Zhongrong Trust ... and not let this to become a milestone vicious economic event," the letter sent to the NFRA said. In the letter to the CCDI, investors complained that management of Zhongrong failed to fulfill their responsibilities and caused huge losses to investors.

Persons: Aly, Zhongrong, didn't, NFRA, Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo, Sumeet Chatterjee, Kim Cogill Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Trust Co, Investors, Financial Regulatory Administration, Central Commission, Reuters, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Zhongrong, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING, Zhongrong

"The application is a normal procedure for the offshore debt restructuring and does not involve (a) bankruptcy petition," it said in the filing, adding it is pushing forward with its offshore debt restructuring. Evergrande's offshore debt restructuring involves a total of $31.7 billion, which include bonds, collateral and repurchase obligations. A man walks past a No Entry traffic sign near the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. China's economic and property woes and the absence of concrete stimulus steps have sent a chill through global markets. "The China property sector is like a black hole, so many developers have been dragged into it since two years ago after Evergrande," said Winner Zone Asset Management CEO and CIO Alan Luk.

Persons: Evergrande, Aly, Nomura, HSI, Alan Luk, Clare Jim, Jonathan Stempel, Dietrich Knauth, Manya, Sumeet Chatterjee, Shri Navaratnam, Kim Coghill Organizations: HONG KONG, China Evergrande, HK, U.S, Hong, British Virgin Islands, China Evergrande Group, REUTERS, Zhongrong International Trust Co, Longfor, Asset Management, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: China, Asia, HONG, U.S, United States, Hong Kong, British Virgin, New York, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Beijing, Bengaluru

It warned investors to be vigilant of fraud, but has not commented on the issue of missed payments to investors. Investors were afraid of “contagion” spreading to the country’s $2.9 trillion investment trust industry, Citi analysts wrote in a Wednesday research report. Last year, Zhongrong extended payments on several of its real estate trust products, saying that the companies couldn’t repay their debts. Most trust products are closed-ended, which means they can only be repaid at maturity, and hence are not vulnerable to panic selling. In addition, thanks to new regulations launched in 2017, the traditional banks have curbed their off-balance-sheet business, including trust products.

Persons: Technology —, Zhongrong, hasn’t, ”, Stringer, Zhongrong’s, China’s “ Lehman, ” Nomura, Lehman, “ Organizations: Beijing CNN, Service, KBC Corporation, Xianheng, Science, Technology, CNN, Zhongzhi, International Trust Co, Bloomberg, Getty, Investors, Citi, China, Association, Companies, Kaisa, Sunac, Nomura, Consumer, National Bureau of Statistics, People’s Bank of China Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, China, Shanghai, Shenzhen, …, Sunac China

☆ Morning Bid: Rattled by the China and Fed double whammy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Underwhelming economic data, along with the ever-deepening property crisis, have unnerved investors and taken Asian stocks to their lowest since November. Zhongzhi Enterprise Group told investors that it was facing a liquidity crisis and will conduct a debt restructuring, two sources told Reuters. European stocks have been hamstrung too, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) touching a one-month low on Wednesday and eyeing a lower open on Thursday. But it's important to remember that July's meeting came before a raft of U.S. data that underscored the resilient economy. England will face Spain on Sunday, looking to add a world title to last year's European Championship triumph.

Persons: Ankur Banerjee, Zhongzhi, Muralikumar Organizations: Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse, REUTERS, Staff, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Reuters, International Trust Co, U.S, Federal, Traders, Australia, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Silicon, Germany, Ankur, Asia, China, England, Spain, Croatia, Singapore

☆ Chinese asset manager Zhongzhi says it faces a liquidity crisis, Reuters reports citing meeting video
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

China property investment slid nearly 8% in the first half of the year, official data showed Monday, pointing to a deepening decline in investment for a sector that accounts for about a quarter of the world's second-largest economy. Zhongzhi Enterprise Group on Wednesday told investors it is facing a liquidity crisis and will conduct a debt restructuring, according to video footage of a meeting, as the Chinese asset manager grapples with a deepening property market downturn. Beijing-based Zhongzhi has hired one of the Big Four accounting firms to conduct a comprehensive audit of the firm, and is seeking strategic investors, Zhongzhi management told investors in a meeting on Wednesday, the video seen by Reuters showed. The liquidity stress facing Zhongzhi, which has sizable exposure to real estate, highlights the rippling effect of China's property debt woes. Zhongzhi is facing a "liquidity crisis" and has stopped payment to investors in its products, its management team told investors in the meeting, according to the video.

Persons: Zhongzhi Organizations: Zhongzhi Enterprise, Wednesday, grapples, Big, Reuters, International Trust Co, Anbang Insurance, HNA Group Locations: China, Beijing

☆ Country Garden: How bad is China's property crisis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

HONG KONG, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The debt crisis at Country Garden (2007.HK), China's largest property developer before this year and once considered a financially sound company, has triggered fresh contagion fears just two years after China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) defaulted. S&P Global Rating said on Wednesday it could adjust its forecast for property sales to a "descending staircase" figure from an "L" shaped recovery, if Country Garden officially defaulted. However, it emerged when the property market and the economy are in much worse shape. Evergrande was already insolvent at the time of default, but Country Garden currently still has more assets than liabilities. Analysts warn that Country Garden could become insolvent if it had to write off large inventories, and run into negative equity if its asset values dropped over time.

Persons: Evergrande, Moody's, Lehman, Clare Jim, Sumeet Chatterjee, Stephen Coates Organizations: HK, China Evergrande, Local, Beijing, International, International Monetary, WILL, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Evergrande, China, Beijing

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Faced with a liquidity crisis, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group will conduct a debt restructuring, the Chinese asset manager has told investors, as a deepening property sector downturn raises fears about spillover risks to the broader financial sector. Beijing-based Zhongzhi, which has sizable exposure to real estate, has stopped payment to investors in all investment products, its management told investors in a meeting on Wednesday, a video seen by Reuters showed. Zhongzhi's financial trouble is the latest challenge for Chinese authorities as they battle to contain a worsening property sector crisis and revive a faltering recovery in the world's second-largest economy. Zhongzhi has hired one of the Big Four accounting firms to conduct a comprehensive audit of the company, and is seeking strategic investors, its management told investors in Wednesday's meeting. Anxious retail investors are bombarding listed companies with questions about their exposure to Zhongrong after missed payments by the trust company triggered fears of contagion across the country's financial system.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Zhongzhi, Lehman, Evergrande, Jason Xue, Clare Jim, Sumeet Chatterjee, Jacqueline Wong, Jamie Freed Organizations: Zhongzhi Enterprise, Reuters, Big, International Trust Co, Citigroup, Zhongrong International Trust, China Evergrande, HK, Energy Vehicle Group, Evergrande, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, HONG KONG, Beijing, Wednesday's, China, China's, Shanghai, Hong Kong

Anxious retail investors are bombarding listed companies with questions about their exposure to Zhongrong, a subsidiary of Zhongzhi, after missed payments by the trust company triggered fears of wider contagion. Zhongzhi's financial trouble is the latest challenge for Chinese authorities as they battle to contain a worsening property sector crisis and revive a faltering recovery in the world's second-largest economy. The Wednesday's meeting was held after Zhongrong International Trust Co, a leading trust company controlled by Zhongzhi, missed payments on dozens of investment products since the end of July, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources. PROPERTY CRISISThe liquidity stress facing Zhongzhi highlights the ripple effect of an unprecedented debt crisis in China's property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the economy that has rapidly lost momentum in recent months. Evergrande said late on Wednesday it would delay the voting date and scheme meetings with creditors for its offshore debt restructuring plan to Aug 23 and Aug 28, respectively, to give creditors more time to consider the terms.

Persons: Lehman, Morgan Stanley, Zhongzhi, Aly, Evergrande, Jason Xue, Clare Jim, Sumeet Chatterjee, Jacqueline Wong, Jamie Freed Organizations: Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Reuters, Citigroup, Big, Workers, REUTERS, International Trust Co, Zhongrong International Trust, China Evergrande, HK, Energy Vehicle Group, Evergrande, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, HONG KONG, Beijing, China's, Zhongzhi, China, Wednesday's, Shanghai, Hong Kong

☆ Zhongrong Trust's missed payments trigger fears among Chinese investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Investors look at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Anxious Chinese retail investors are bombarding listed companies with questions about their exposure to Zhongrong International Trust Co after missed payments by the trust company triggered fears of contagion across the country's financial system. Zhongrong managed assets worth 785.7 billion yuan ($107.69 billion) at the end of 2022, out of which 629.3 billion yuan were linked to trust products, according to its latest annual report. Its missed payments had added to stress in the financial sector from the country's worsening property crisis. One investor on Wednesday asked Shanghai-listed New China Life Insurance Company (601336.SS) - which owned 14 billion yuan ($1.92 billion) of products from Zhongrong at the end of last year - whether there was a risk of missed payments.

Persons: Aly, Huang Yan, Jason Xue, Tom Westbrook, Tomasz Janowski, Jason Neely Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Zhongrong International, Co, Investors, Shanghai QiuYang, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Wednesday, Shanghai, China Life Insurance, KBC Corp, Bescient Technology, Shanghai New Vision Microelectronics, Nanhua, Jiangsu Azure Corp, Topsperity Securities, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Shenzhen, Zhongrong, Jiangsu, Singapore

NEW YORK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Deflationary pressures in China could spill over into global markets, which is potentially near-term good news for Western central banks as they seek to curb inflation, U.S. asset manager PIMCO said on Wednesday. The economic deterioration could moderate inflation in China and, increasingly, also in the markets served by Chinese goods, PIMCO Economist and Managing Director Tiffany Wilding said in a note. "Deflation, weakening trade, collapsing loan demand, and a paralysed property sector dampen our risk appetite," it said. "For China, the risk of more pronounced deflationary pressure depends crucially on the government’s policies in the coming months," said Wilding. "Adequate fiscal stimulus to boost domestic demand may reaccelerate inflation, while delayed or inadequate policy measures could lead to a downward spiral," she said.

Persons: PIMCO, Tiffany Wilding, “, spillovers, Wilding, Davide Barbuscia, Mark Potter Organizations: PIMCO, Oxford Economics, Zhongrong International Trust Co, Thomson Locations: China, Western

REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoHONG KONG/NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Chinese fears of a spillover from missed payments on some shadow banking linked trust products and worsening consumer sentiment are expected to hasten a policy response to revive the country's cash-starved property sector. Zhongrong International Trust Co, which traditionally had sizable real estate exposure, has recently missed repayments on some investment products, fuelling contagion fears. 'CONTAGION'The trust sector had been a major fundraising channel for property developers seeking rapid expansion. The outstanding value of trust products invested in the property sector was 1.2 trillion yuan as of end-2022, down about 30% year-on-year. Still, exposure to the real estate sector varies from different trust firms.

Persons: Aly, Yan Wang, Nomura, Arthur Kroeber, Kamil Dimmich, Phillip Wool, Wool, Vidya Ranganathan, Laura Matthews, David Randall, Ziyi Tang, Sumeet Chatterjee, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, HONG KONG, Trust Co, Barclays, International Trust, South Capital LLP, China Equity ETF, Beijing, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG, Zhongrong, Beijing, New York, London, Singapore, Summer Zhen

☆ Asia stocks stall at one-month lows as slowing China cuts rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Industrial output and retail sales growth both slowed from a month earlier to a year-on-year pace of 3.7% and 2.5% respectively, missing expectations. J.P. Morgan analysts warned of a "vicious cycle" of real estate financing challenges and said trust defaults could wipe 0.3% to 0.4% from China's growth directly. The S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 0.6% overnight and futures rose 0.1% in Asia. European futures rose 0.4%. In bond markets, benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 2 basis points to 4.20% on Tuesday.

Persons: Androniki, HSI, Morgan, John Vail, Morgan Stanley, Tom Westbrook, Jamie Freed Organizations: Nikkei, REUTERS, China, SYDNEY, Reuters, Property, Nomura, HK, International Trust Co, Nikko Asset Management, U.S, Nvidia, Brent, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, China, Asia, Pacific, China’s, JAPAN, Australia

☆ Hedge funds dump Chinese stocks aggressively as growth outlook dims
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds are "aggressively" selling Chinese stocks amid heightened concerns over the country's property sector and a weak batch of economic data, a Goldman Sachs report on Tuesday showed. "Hedge funds have net sold Chinese stocks in eight of the last ten sessions on the prime book through 8/14," it said, adding its clients divested both their long and short positions. Goldman Sachs, as one of the biggest providers of lending and trading services through its prime brokerage unit to investors, is able to track hedge funds' investment trends. On Tuesday, a broad array of Chinese economic data highlighted intensifying pressure on the economy from multiple fronts, prompting Beijing to cut key policy rates to shore up activity. Hedge funds are increasingly wary of their exposure to China.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Goldman Sachs, Carolina Mandl, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Global, International Trust Co, D1 Capital, Tiger, Carolina, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, HK, U.S, New York

Japanese Yen and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. The dollar hit a one-month high against a basket of major currencies, before steadying, as investors sought a safe haven on concerns about China's economy. Japan's currency weakened to as low as 145.22 per dollar in early Asian hours, its lowest since Nov. 10, before quickly reversing course in a volatile start to the week. Japan intervened in currency markets last September when the dollar rose past 145 yen, prompting the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to buy the yen and push the pair back to around 140 yen. With the yen loitering around the 145 level again, traders expect Japanese officials to start warning of intervention soon as they did in June.

Persons: Yen, Dado Ruvic, Charu Chanana, Chris Turner, Russia's rouble, Sterling, Joey Chew, Ankur Banerjee, Harry Robertson, Shri Navaratnam, Lincoln, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of Japan, Ministry of Finance, Saxo Markets, International Trust Co, ING, Australian, Federal, Asia FX, HSBC, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Japan, United States, China, U.S, Russian, Ukraine, Asia, Singapore, London

☆ Asia suffers China blues; dollar hits 2023 top on yen
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) eased another 1.1%, after shedding 2% last week. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) was off 0.5%, even as exporters drew support from the weak yen. The sour mood saw S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures shed early gains to each ease 0.1%. That rise juiced the dollar against the low-yielding yen, lifting it as far as 145.22 and a peak not seen since November last year. The rise in the dollar and yields was weighing on gold at $1,911 an ounce , having fallen for three weeks in a row.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Brent, Wayne Cole, Shri Navaratnam, Sam Holmes Organizations: Nikkei, SYDNEY, Japan's Nikkei, Zhongrong International Trust Co, HK, Nasdaq, Amazon's, Federal, Goldman, Thomson Locations: China, Beijing, Russian, Black, Asia, Pacific, Japan

China on Friday launched its first private pension scheme in 36 cities as it grapples with a rapidly ageing population, allowing individuals to open retirement accounts at banks to buy pension products ranging from deposits to mutual funds. The move marked the official launch of China's version of IRA, or Individual Retirement Accounts in the United States, a private pension scheme that offers tax advantages for individuals saving for retirement. As part of the new system, local domestic workers covered by China's public pension insurance can participate in the private pension scheme and contribute up to 12,000 yuan ($1,680) per year to their individual accounts and receive tax benefits. Eddy Wong, chief executive of China International Fund Management (CIFM), a joint venture between JPMorgan and Shanghai International Trust Co., said China's individual pension market has "huge potential and room for development". "The first movers in China's pension market enjoy an advantage," said Howhow Zhang, Greater China wealth and asset management strategy and transactions leader at consultancy EY.

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