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☆ Sunac, Country Garden debt deals bring respite for China's property sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Chinese developers Sunac (1918.HK) and Country Garden (2007.HK) brought some relief to the crisis-hit property sector by forging debt deals with creditors, but the outlook remained clouded by uncertainty about a recovery in home sales. Shares in Sunac China Holdings surged as much as 14% on Tuesday after creditors approved its $9 billion offshore debt restructuring plan, the first green light of such a debt overhaul by a major Chinese developer. The developments come as Beijing steps up efforts to revive the property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the world's second-largest economy, with a raft of support measures unveiled over the last few weeks. While Sunac is among a string of Chinese developers that have defaulted on their offshore debt obligations since an unprecedented liquidity crisis hit the property sector in 2021, Country Garden has not missed any offshore payments yet. PROPERTY SECTOR OUTLOOKMajor developers in the process of restructuring their debt include China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), whose liquidity crunch was a turning point in the country's real estate crisis.

Persons: Sunac, Gary Ng, ANZ Senior China Economist Betty Wang, It's, Donny Kwok, Xie Yu, Steven Bian, Kevin Huang, Anne Marie Roantree, Sumeet Chatterjee, Lincoln Organizations: HK, Sunac China Holdings, Country Garden, Natixis Corporate, Investment Bank, China Evergrande, ANZ Senior China Economist, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sunac, China, Shanghai

☆ Country Garden wins approval to extend another onshore bond
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Embattled Chinese developer Country Garden (2007.HK) has won approval from creditors to extend repayment on another onshore bond, the last in the batch of eight bonds it has been seeking extensions for, two sources familiar with the matter said. The 492 million yuan ($67 million) onshore bond was issued by a subsidiary of Country Garden, and the company had delayed voting on this bond three times before creditors on Monday voted in favor to extend the maturity, the sources said. Under the terms of the agreement, the issuer, Guangdong Giant Leap Construction Co would provide no less than 200 million yuan as a pledged guarantee for the bond, the two sources added. Country Garden, whose financial woes have hit the Chinese property sector outlook, earlier proposed to extend maturities of eight onshore bonds worth 10.8 billion yuan by three years. ($1 = 7.2946 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Steven Bian in Shanghai, Kevin Huang in Beijing, and Xie Yu in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Steven Bian, Kevin Huang, Xie Yu, Sumeet Chatterjee Organizations: HK, Country, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Lincoln

It is likely to be the biggest of three funds launched by the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund. Its target of 300 billion yuan ($41 billion) outdoes similar funds in 2014 and 2019, which according to government reports, raised 138.7 billion yuan and 200 billion yuan respectively. China's finance ministry is planning to contribute 60 billion yuan, said one person. Backers of the Big Fund's previous two funds include the finance ministry and deep-pocketed state-owned entities such as China Development Bank Capital, China National Tobacco Corporation and China Telecom. INVESTMENT MANAGERSThe Big Fund is considering hiring at least two institutions to invest the new fund's capital, said the three people.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Florence Lo, China's, Julie Zhu, Kevin Huang, Yelin Mo, Roxanne Liu, Sumeet Chatterjee, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: U.S, China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, Big Fund, Washington, Information Office, Ministry of Industry, Information Technology, REUTERS, China Development Bank Capital, China National Tobacco Corporation, China Telecom, Big, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, HK, Hua Hong Semiconductor, Memory Technologies, IC, China Aerospace Investment, China Aerospace Science, Technology Corporation, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, BEIJING, China, Beijing, U.S, Japan, Netherlands

An unprecedented liquidity crisis in China's vast property sector is a major risk to a sputtering post-COVID recovery in the world's second-biggest economy, which has rattled global markets. Country Garden debt payment extension buys time for China's largest private developer to avoid default, and is good news for financial markets and the Chinese government, which has announced a raft of measures to support the property sector. In Friday's vote, 56.08% of participating Country Garden onshore creditors approved the extension, 43.64% opposed and 0.28% abstained, an official document shared with bondholders showed. Country Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A default by Country Garden would have exacerbated the real estate crisis and put more strain on its onshore lenders.

Persons: spiralled, Junan, Zhou Hao, Moody's, Xie Yu, Kevin Huang, Li Gu, Sumeet Chatterjee, William Mallard Organizations: Reuters, HK, China Evergrande, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, China, Caa1, Hong Kong, Shanghai

HONG KONG/BEJING, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Country Garden (2007.HK) has won approval from its creditors to extend payments for an onshore private bond, two sources said on Saturday, in a major relief for the embattled Chinese property developer as well as the crisis-hit property sector. Country Garden was seeking approval from its creditors to extend the maturity for a 3.9 billion yuan ($540 million) onshore private bond in a vote that ended on Friday night. China's largest private property developer had proposed to repay the debt in instalments over three years instead of meeting its obligations by Saturday. Country Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A default by Country Garden would have exacerbated the country's real estate crisis, put more strain on its onshore lenders and further delayed the prospect of a recovery of the property market.

Persons: spiralled, Xie Yu, Kevin Huang, Li Gu, Sumeet Chatterjee, William Mallard Organizations: HK, Reuters, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai

☆ Some onshore creditors of Country Garden private bond receive interest payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A view of the residential apartments in Country Garden's Forest City development in Johor Bahru, Malaysia August 16, 2023. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Some onshore creditors of embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden's (2007.HK) private bond have received interest payments, sources told Reuters on Friday. The development comes after Country Garden on Thursday delayed a deadline for creditors to vote on whether to postpone payments for that onshore 3.9 billion yuan ($537 million) private bond until Friday 1400 GMT to give bondholders "sufficient time" to prepare for the vote. Country Garden did not immediately respond to request for comment. Reporting by Li Gu, Kevin Huang and Xie Yu; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Edgar Su, Li Gu, Kevin Huang, Xie Yu, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, HK, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Garden's, City, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, HONG KONG

☆ Country Garden seeks to add 40-day grace period to onshore bond repayment
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Aug 29 (Reuters) - China's largest private property developer Country Garden Holdings (2007.HK) is seeking to add a 40-day grace period for the repayment of a 3.9 billion yuan ($535.3 million) private onshore bond due on Saturday, according to a document seen by Reuters. Country Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the document received by private bondholders on Tuesday, Country Garden added a new voting item of adding a grace period of 40 calendar days. A small bondholder, among those who vetoed the repayment extension plan last week, told Reuters he also planned to vote against the proposed new term.

Persons: Aly, Kevin Huang, Clare Jim, Li Gu, Jacqueline Wong, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, Rights, Garden Holdings, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING, HK, Beijing, Hong Kong

BEIJING/TAIPEI, July 28 (Reuters) - Typhoon Doksuri swept into southern China on Friday, unleashing heavy rain and violent gusts of wind that whipped power lines and sparked fires, uprooted trees, and ripped off part of a stadium roof. REUTERS/Eloisa LopezSocial media video showed power lines sparking and bursting into flames as winds thrashed Jinjiang, a city of 2 million, while in Quanzhou trees were uprooted and left in the middle of roads. FERRY OVERTURNSTyphoon Doksuri has already left a wake of death and destruction as it moved from the Philippines across southern Taiwan. In southern Taiwan, the storm toppled trees and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes. The storm had cut power to more than 278,000 homes across Taiwan and downed hundreds of trees in Kaohsiung.

Persons: Doksuri, Meranti, Zhuang, Aya, Eloisa Lopez, Bernard Orr, Ryan Woo, Yimou Lee, Dominique Patton, Yuhan Lin, Kevin Huang, Ethan Wang, Michael Perry, Neil Fullick Organizations: Sunday, Philippine Coast Guard, REUTERS, Eloisa Lopez Social, Residents, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, TAIPEI, China, Fujian, Quanzhou, Anhui, Beijing, Xiamen, Binangonan, Rizal province, Philippines, Jinjiang, Taiwan, Manila, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Shanghai

HONG KONG, July 18 (Reuters) - China plans to appoint the CEO of state-owned telecoms giant China Unicom (0762.HK), (600050.SS), Liu Liehong, as the head of its new national data bureau, four sources said, putting him in charge of efforts to make the country a digital superpower. China announced plans for the data bureau in March as part of a sweeping government reshuffle. Its formation is part of efforts to achieve President Xi Jinping's vision of a "digital China", where data is managed alongside labour and capital as a key economic driver. China's internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), will also transfer some staff to the data bureau, said one source. "Whether Mr. Liu Liehong will take up any role in the National Data Bureau shall be subject to the decision of the PRC government," it added.

Persons: Liu Liehong, Liu, Xi, China Unicom, Julie Zhu, Kevin Huang, Jane Xu, Brenda Goh, Sam Holmes Organizations: HK, National Data Bureau, Reuters, China, Tech Development Department, Cyberspace Administration of China, CAC, Information Office, National, Bureau, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Ministry of Industry, Information Technology, Communist Party, Committee, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Sichuan province

China's central bank said that financial regulators would fine Ant and its subsidiaries a total of 7.12 billion yuan, require it to stop operations of its crowdfunded medical aid service Xianghubao and compensate users. Reuters reported earlier, citing sources, that Chinese authorities intended to unveil its fine on Ant as early as Friday. The sources had earlier said that the fine on Ant had been revised to at least 8 billion yuan. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they initially had in mind. Alibaba was fined a record 18 billion yuan in 2021 for antitrust violations.

Persons: China c.bank, Ant, Ping, Rukim Kuang, Jack Ma, Jeffrey Towson, Pan Gongsheng, Pan, Didi Global, Alibaba, Julie Zhu, Jane Xu, Jason Xue, Kevin Huang, Meg Shen, Twinnie Sui, Josh Ye, Ethan Wang, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Brenda Goh, David Holmes, Susan Fenton Organizations: Ant, Singapore FinTech Festival, REUTERS, Ant Group, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Ping An Bank, PICC, HK, Postal Savings Bank, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba, Hong Kong, Financial Regulatory Administration, State Council, Lens Consulting, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, HONG KONG, Ant's, Hong, Beijing, CHINA

Reuters reported earlier, citing sources, that Chinese authorities intended to unveil its fine on Ant as early as Friday. The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), a new government body under the State Council, is now the primary regulator to grant Ant the license, they added. The sources had earlier said that the fine on Ant had been revised to at least 8 billion yuan. Reuters reported in April that Chinese regulators were considering fining Ant about 5 billion yuan, a lower sum than what they initially had in mind. Alibaba was fined a record 18 billion yuan in 2021 for antitrust violations.

Persons: China c.bank, Ant, Ping, Rukim Kuang, Jeffrey Towson, Jack Ma, China's, Pan Gongsheng, Pan, Didi Global, Alibaba, Julie Zhu, Jane Xu, Jason Xue, Kevin Huang, Meg Shen, Twinnie Sui, Josh Ye, Ethan Wang, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Brenda Goh, David Holmes, Susan Fenton Organizations: Ant, Singapore FinTech Festival, REUTERS, Ant Group, People's Bank of China, Reuters, Ping An Bank, PICC, HK, Postal Savings Bank, Tencent Holdings, Tenpay, Alibaba, Hong Kong, Lens Consulting, Communist Party, Financial Regulatory Administration, State Council, Thomson Locations: Singapore, China, HONG KONG, Ant's, Hong, Beijing, CHINA

HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters) - China will appoint Li Yunze as the head of a new financial regulator as part of a broader restructuring of its financial regulatory regime, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. Li, 52, a banking veteran and currently vice governor of southwestern Sichuan province, will take the helm of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), the sources told Reuters. The NFRA is a new government body under the State Council tasked to supervise the multi-trillion dollar financial industry, excluding the securities sector. Li has a relatively low-profile in the sector compared to previous financial regulatory heads. In 2018, he was appointed as vice governor of Sichuan province.

☆ China's Meituan to restructure ride-hailing unit, reduce service's staff - letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 6 (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant Meituan (3690.HK) plans to restructure its ride-hailing service and reduce the number of staff it has working on the platform, according to an internal letter seen by Reuters on Monday and two sources. The company's main app is known in China as a 'superapp' which has services from food delivery to restaurant bookings. Meituan first launched the Meituan Dache app in 2017 but removed it from app stores two years later citing losses，local media reported at the time. But over the whole period, it has offered the ride-hailing service among the suite of services on its main app. Didi's Chinese service was allowed to resume new user registrations in January after it was dealt a $1.2 billion fine over data-security breaches.

Analysts estimate that nearly $700 billion of mortgages – close to one-eighth China's outstanding total – have been prepaid since early last year, when banks started to lower borrowing rates. This threatens banks' profits on mortgages, which accounted for about 30% of outstanding loans at China's five biggest banks as of last June, according to their latest financial reports. The current disinterest in new home purchases contrasts sharply with the overheated property market of prior years, when authorities kept mortgage rates high to cool speculation. Towards the middle of last year, however, regulators began lowering benchmark mortgage rates to prop up property demand, after a liquidity crisis among developers sent home prices and sales into a downward spiral. "I decided to do so because I'm burdened with a mortgage rate that's too high," Wang said.

[1/2] The app logo of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is seen reflected on its navigation map displayed on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken July 1, 2021. Didi has been awaiting authorities' approval to resume new user registrations and downloads of its 25 banned apps in China as a key step to resume normal business since its regulatory troubles started in mid-2021. A lifting of the ban on Didi apps would come as Chinese policymakers seek to restore private sector confidence and count on the technology industry to help spur economic activity that has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The delay in the return of the apps had cast a shadow over Didi's business plans. That deal is primarily subject to the apps' resumption for official announcement, said the two sources.

☆ China's 'great migration' kicks-off under shadow of COVID
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Casey Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

BORDER REOPENINGSunday marks the reopening of China's border with Hong Kong and the end of China's requirement for inbound international travellers to quarantine. More than a dozen countries are now demanding COVID tests from Chinese travellers, as the World Health Organisation said China's official virus data underreported the true extent of its outbreak. In Shanghai, for example, the city government on Friday announced an end to free PCR tests for residents from Jan. 8. China has relied on nine domestically-developed COVID vaccines approved for use, including inactivated vaccines, but none have been adapted to target the highly-transmissible Omicron variant and its offshoots currently in circulation. China reported three new COVID deaths in the mainland for Friday, bringing its official virus death toll to 5,267, one of the lowest in the world.

HONG KONG/BEIJING, Jan 6 (Reuters) - China is in talks with Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) to secure a licence that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the U.S. firm's COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China, three sources told Reuters. In February last year, China approved Paxlovid, which was supposed to be largely available via hospitals, to treat high-risk patients in several provinces. Pfizer last month reached an agreement to export Paxlovid to China through a local company to make the medicine more widely available. A Pfizer spokesperson said the company is actively collaborating with Chinese authorities and all stakeholders to secure an adequate supply of Paxlovid in China. That licence does not allow the companies to sell generic Paxlovid in China.

☆ This $3,000 self-driving stroller isn't as terrifying as it sounds. It's basically a nanny on wheels.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Canadian startup Glüxkind is selling a self-driving baby stroller called the Ella AI for $3,300. Ella AI was displayed at the 2023 Consumer Electronic Show and is slated to be available in April. Parents can also activate hands-free strolling, which allows the stroller to drive itself when a baby wants to walk or be held. For additional support, the Glüxkind stroller has a built in a "rock-my-baby" mode which automatically rocks the stroller for a comforting effect when the stroller is not in motion. Check out a demo of the Ella AI:

HONG KONG/BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators and state-owned banks are taking steps to split staff at their workplaces in Beijing, sources told Reuters, as businesses brace for a possible spike in COVID cases after China relaxed virus restrictions in a major policy shift. Other staff are required to work from home, they added. Among China's big four state-owned banks, Bank of China (BOC) (601988.SS) has released a notice to staff that it would split its Beijing workforce into three groups, working in the office on alternate weeks, said a person with direct knowledge. But the bank has yet to decide when to start such rotations, the person added. Other large state banks have also made similar arrangements - splitting up staff into rotating shifts while maintaining a maximum of 10%-20% of staff occupancy in their headquarters in Beijing, said two other people with knowledge of the matter.

HONG KONG, Dec 5 (Reuters) - China may announce 10 new COVID-19 easing measures as early as Wednesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, supplementing 20 unveiled in November that set off a wave of COVID easing steps nationwide. Management of the disease may be downgraded as soon as January, to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A of infectious disease, the sources said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. China will allow home quarantine for some of those testing positive, among the supplementary measures set to be announced, two sources told Reuters last week. COVID-19 could be downgraded to Category B management or even Category C, the expert told Yicai. read moreWriting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Alison Williams and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: As economy stutters, China's youth seek safety of civil service
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The wishes of Lau's parents that she had a "safe" civil service career suddenly made more sense. Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, says the preference for civil servant jobs has surged. On social media, young Chinese refer to the civil service as "the end of the universe," meaning the safest place around in such an environment. "Being a civil servant gives you a lot of stability," she said. “The present state of the job market has definitely increased my desire to become a civil servant," she said.

☆ Exclusive: China to allow home quarantine for some infected with COVID
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Julie Zhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China will allow some people who test positive for COVID-19 to quarantine at home, among supplementary measures to be announced in coming days, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Home isolation for the infected would be a significant change in China's quarantine protocols. Earlier this year, entire communities were locked down, sometimes for weeks, after even just one positive case was found. Last month, new and easier quarantine rules required just the lockdown of affected buildings. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees China's counter COVID efforts, on Wednesday urged further "optimisation" of testing, treatment and quarantine policies.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China's central bank will offer cheap loans to financial firms for buying bonds issued by property developers, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said, the strongest policy support yet for the crisis-hit sector. China has stepped up support in recent weeks for the property sector, a pillar accounting for a quarter of the world's second-biggest economy. As a result of the crackdown, though, property sales and prices fell, developers defaulted on bonds and suspended construction. Chinese media reported on Monday the central bank planned to provide 200 billion yuan in interest-free relending loans to commercial banks through the end of March for housing completions. Among other recent official support, China's interbank bond market regulator said this month it would widen a programme to support about 250 billion yuan ($35 billion) of debt offerings by private firms.

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