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☆ Banks may resist China’s push to help developers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing RightsSINGAPORE, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Beijing is giving Chinese banks another nudge to persuade them to play the property white knight. Regulators including the People’s Bank of China are drafting a “whitelist” of 50 property developers, including state-backed China Vanke (000002.SZ) and fully private ones like Seazen (1030.HK) and Longfor (0960.HK), Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources. More importantly, barring specific lending targets, banks are likely to remain in wait-and-see mode because they fear getting stuck with a mountain of bad loans. Last December, Chinese banks pledged new credit lines worth around 3 trillion yuan ($424 billion) to a dozen developers deemed worth saving, following a similar effort by Beijing. But at a time when China’s outstanding property loans are contracting, such vaguely worded guidance loses relevance.

Persons: Stringer, Yawen Chen, Francesco Guerrera, Thomas Shum Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Regulators, People’s Bank of China, HK, Bloomberg, X, Walmart, Thomson Locations: Dalian, Liaoning province, China, Rights SINGAPORE, Beijing

☆ Chinese banks should step up lending to private sector, central bank official quoted
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Paramilitary police officers stand guard in front of the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank (PBOC), in Beijing, China September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) - An official at China's central bank urged banks to step up lending to private companies during a meeting on Wednesday with financial regulators, corporations and lenders, the state-owned Securities Times reported. The central bank will ask financial institutions to set annual targets for services to private firms and vigorously expand loans to companies that are borrowing for the first time, it said. Investment by private companies shrank 0.5% in the first seven months of the year, bigger than the 0.2% decline for the first half. The Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, major banks including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) and China Construction Bank (601939.SS) as well as at least 11 private firms participated the meeting, according to Yicai financial news.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Ma Jianyang, Yicai, Ellen Zhang, Ryan Woo, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, Rights, Securities Times, Investment, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Titan Wind Energy, Longfor Group, HK, Seazen Holdings, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, Shanghai, Shenzhen

☆ Country Garden shares dive after bond trading halted, fans further economic distress
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. Shares of Country Garden dived 16.3% to HK$0.82 by noon, dragging down the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index (.HSMPI) which dropped 3.9%. According to company registry portal Qichacha, a services unit of Country Garden offloaded its 51% stake in a Wuhan-based network technology company, while chief strategic officer of Country Garden Services also resigned from the firm's chairman. Country Garden Services did not immediately respond to request for comment. In September alone, Country Garden may need to repay more than 9 billion yuan ($1.25 billion) worth of onshore bonds.

Persons: Aly, HONG KONG, Dickie Wong, Wong, Longfor, Clare Jim, Yuhan Lin, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, HK, China Evergrande, Mainland Properties, Reuters, Garden Services, Garden, Country Garden Services, Kingston Securities, State, Longfor, Seazen, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG, HK, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Beijing

☆ China's property firms rally after Beijing pledges economic support
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Its Shanghai-traded bond surged 25% to 38 yuan, while a Shenzhen-traded bond rose 44% to 33.6 yuan. "Most important, (Beijing) sent a signal of further easing property restrictions by dropping the phrase...and mentioning streaming property policies," Nomura chief China economist Ting Lu said. Sino-Ocean Group's onshore bond rose 8.6% to 23.5 yuan in Shanghai. The state-backed firm is currently negotiating with creditors to extend the repayment for the yuan bond due Aug. 2. Nomura's Lu maintained the view that there is no quick fix for the property sector, and that the central government would only marginally ease some existing restrictive measures in large cities.

Persons: Nomura, Ting Lu, Nomura's Lu, Morgan Stanley, Clare Jim, Jason Xue, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Sam Holmes Organizations: Mainland Properties, CSI, HK, Garden Services, Communist Party, Longfor, Seazen, KWG, Ocean Group, Greenland Holdings, Country Garden, Dalian Wanda Group, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hang, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, China

☆ China's property shares rally after Beijing pledges economic support
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, July 25 (Reuters) - Shares of China's property developers surged on Tuesday following a sharp selloff in the previous session, after policymakers said they would step up support for the embattled sector. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index (.HSMPI) jumped 12%, while Chinese CSI 300 Real Estate (.CSI000952) gained 7%. "Most important, (Beijing) sent a signal of further easing property restrictions by dropping the phrase...and mentioning streaming property policies," Nomura chief China economist Ting Lu said. Lu, however, maintained the view that there is no quick fix for the property sector, and the central government would only marginally ease some existing restrictive measures in large cities. In recent weeks, investors were wary of a deepening debt crisis in the property sector as new signs of trouble emerged among state-backed property developers Sino-Ocean Group (3377.HK) and Greenland Holdings (600606.SS), as well as property giants Country Garden (2007.HK) and Dalian Wanda Group.

Persons: Nomura, Ting Lu, Lu, Morgan Stanley, Clare Jim, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Sam Holmes Organizations: Mainland Properties, CSI, HK, Longfor, Seazen, KWG, Communist Party, Ocean Group, Greenland Holdings, Country, Dalian Wanda Group, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hang, Hong Kong, China, HK, Beijing

☆ Factbox: Chinese business tycoons, executives who disappeared from public view
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Following is a list of some other high-profile Chinese executives who have abruptly gone missing from public view in recent years. Three months later, On Nov. 27, the company said Yang had resumed his duties after assisting an investigation in China. Shares and bonds related to CEFC China Energy plunged on the news, which was first reported by Chinese magazine Caixin. Chinese financial regulators in 2020 took over brokerages, trust companies and insurers linked to the group. Reporting by Brenda Goh and Xie Yu; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chinese dealmaker Bao Fan, founder of investment bank China Renaissance Holdings Ltd (1911.HK), has gone missing in the latest disappearance of a top business executive, unnerving investors and sending its stock down as much as 50% on Friday. A China Renaissance spokesperson referred Reuters request for comment on Friday to the investment bank's public filing. The firm earned $20.6 million in Chinese related investment banking fees in 2022, down from $43.13 million a year earlier, the data showed. Bao started China Renaissance in 2005 as a two-person team, seeking to match capital-hungry startups with venture capitalist and private equity investors. China Renaissance is also an active investor in the tech sector.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) - China has ordered its top four state-owned banks to issue offshore loans to help developers repay overseas debt, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, rolling out its latest support measure for the cash-starved property sector. The regulators have given 'window guidance', or verbal orders that leave no paper trail, to the banks, setting a date of Dec. 10 by which to make the loans secured against domestic assets, two of the sources said. Funds received after the latest step will allow developers to repay offshore loans and dollar bonds in a bid to repair global investors' bruised confidence in the sector, two of the sources said. Each of the four banks, Bank of China (601988.SS), China Construction Bank (601939.SS), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) and Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SS), will pick several developers to fund, the three sources said. The People's Bank of China, the central bank, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Funds flowing from banks will allow developers to repay offshore loans and dollar bonds, helping to repair global investors' bruised confidence, two of the sources said. Each of the four banks, Bank of China (601988.SS), China Construction Bank (601939.SS), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) and Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SS), will pick several developers to fund, the three sources said. The third source said that, while the big four banks preferred fresh lending to go to state-backed developers, they would have to include some private firms, which have a greater need for offshore loans. Chinese banks make offshore loans secured against domestic assets to companies that need foreign funds, but regulatory tightening in the last couple of years to rein in debt-fuelled empire-building by corporates hampered that kind of lending. China's central bank will also offer cheap loans to financial firms to buy bonds issued by property developers, separate sources have told Reuters.

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.

☆ Chinese property stocks soar on fresh regulatory support
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Xie Yu | Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese property developers’ share prices surged on Wednesday after regulators expanded a financing programme aimed at supporting bond issuance in the crisis-ridden sector. REUTERS/Aly SongCIFI Holdings (Group) Co Ltd soared 40% while Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd surged 23%. The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors late on Tuesday said it will widen a programme to support about 250 billion yuan ($34.5 billion) worth of debt sales by private firms, including property developers. The move comes as cash-strapped property developers struggle to tap sources of funding to finish projects and pay suppliers. Still, there will likely be more defaults given weak recovery in property sales, Chen said.

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