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HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese property developer Country Garden warned Tuesday that it cannot repay on time a 470 million Hong Kong dollar ($60 million) loan in the latest sign of distress after Beijing clamped down on mounting debts in the industry. The company said its sales were under “remarkable pressure.”Country Garden earlier had been hailed as a model real estate company by Chinese authorities. Country Garden's sales slumped nearly 44% in January-September from the same period a year earlier, the company said. Since there has not been an industry-wide improvement in property sales, Country Garden said “its liquidity position is expected to remain very tight in the short- to medium-term.”However the company is still finishing and delivering residential housing. Country Garden had more than $180 billion in liabilities as of June.

Persons: Evergrande Organizations: Hong Kong, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Minsheng Banking Corporation, Hong, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, China, Hong Kong

☆ China cuts banks' reserve ratio for second time in 2023 to aid recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, is pictured in Beijing, China, February 3, 2020. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks, except those that have implemented a 5% reserve ratio, by 25 basis points from Sept. 15. The central bank said the weighted average reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for financial institutions stood at around 7.4% after the cut. Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, cautioned to watch for a cut in Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) on Friday off the back of the RRR cut. "That would be more significant than the RRR cut and suggest central bank is up to something," said Wang.

Persons: Jason Lee, Wen Bin, Xu Tianchen, Dan Wang, Wang, Liangping Gao, Joe Cash, Ellen Zhang, Kevin Yao, Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams, Christina Fincher Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, Rights, Minsheng Bank, Xinhua, Economist Intelligence Unit, Hang Seng Bank China, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING

☆ Several Chinese lenders cut yuan deposit rates from Monday
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) - Several Chinese commercial banks cut interest rates on a range of yuan deposits from Monday, following their larger peers in a coordinated move to ease pressure on profit margins. The deposit rate cuts follow a similar move by China's biggest state lenders on Friday and marks the second such industry-wide cut within a year, with previous action taken in September. Analysts expect the deposit rate cuts will provide more room for a further cut soon by the central bank in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) to expand credit and boost investment spending. The lenders cut rates on two-year time deposits by 10 bps points, and three-year and five-year time deposits by 15 bps points. The rate cuts will help ease pressure on lenders' profit margins as savings held in banks had ballooned when the economy slowed during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Persons: Yi Gang, Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo, Sonali Paul Organizations: China's, China Merchants Bank Co Ltd, China Citic Bank Corp, China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd, People's Bank of, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Banks, China, People's Bank of China, Shanghai

☆ China's first-quarter GDP growth seen rebounding to 4.0%, 2023 rate seen at 5.4% - Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Kevin Yao | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

That would be the fastest growth since the first quarter of last year. The government has set a modest target for economic growth of around 5% for this year, after badly missing the 2022 goal. The government is due to release first quarter GDP data, along with March activity data, at 0200 GMT on April 18. On a quarterly basis, the economy is forecast to grow 2.2% in January-March, compared with no change in October-December, the poll showed. “We need to maintain the stability and continuity of macro policies to consolidate the economic recovery,” said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.

☆ China's Q1 GDP growth seen rebounding to 4.0%, 2023 rate seen at 5.4%: Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Kevin Yao | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

That would be the fastest growth since the first quarter of last year. For 2023, growth was expected to pick up to 5.4%, the poll showed, from 3.0% last year - one of its worst performances in nearly half a century due to strict COVID-19 curbs. The government has set a modest target for economic growth of around 5% for this year, after badly missing the 2022 goal. The government is due to release first quarter GDP data, along with March activity data, at 0200 GMT on April 18. Consumer inflation will likely quicken to 2.3% in 2023 from 2.0% in 2022, before steadying in 2024, the poll showed.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks, except those that have implemented a 5% reserve ratio, by 25 basis points from March 27. "In the first two months of this year, China's main economic indicators showed a positive trend, but the overall recovery foundation is not yet solid." The central bank has yet to give an estimate of how much long-term liquidity will be released following the cut, which will allow banks to lend out more funds. The weighted average RRR for financial institutions stood at around 7.6% after the cut, the central bank said. China's economic activity picked up in the first two months of 2023 as consumption and infrastructure investment drove a recovery from COVID-19 disruptions.

☆ Asian markets tumble as SVB fears rattle banking sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Investors are now on edge over whether the demise of SVB could spark a broader banking sector meltdown. On Monday, US stocks were mixed, with banking shares taking a hit. In Hong Kong, shares in Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank fell 3.7% and 1.3% respectively. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group both dropped more than 7%. In Seoul, KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group fell 3.6% and 2.5% respectively.

But unlike ICBC and its peers, Ant neither took deposits, nor piled risky loans onto its balance sheet. Free from the red tape that binds regular banks, the loans facilitated by Ant ballooned. Digital offerings accounted for half of overall consumer loans in China, Fitch Ratings calculated in 2021. Ant is set to become a licensed financial holding company, putting it under the close watch of China's main banking regulator. Beijing wants Chinese consumers to consume, so is likely to indulge controlled growth of consumer credit.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would jump to 1.35 trillion yuan in November. Household loans, including mortgages, rose to 262.7 billion yuan in November, versus a contraction of 18 billion yuan in October. Corporate loans rose to 883.7 billion yuan from 462.2 billion yuan in October. New loans totalled 19.91 trillion yuan in January-November, central bank data showed, compared with a record 19.95 trillion yuan in 2021. Outstanding yuan loans grew 11.0% in November from a year earlier compared with 11.1% growth in October.

[1/2] Zambia's Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane attends the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 15, 2022. Zambia's Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane told Reuters that China had sought clarification from the Zambian government and the IMF on their debt agreement, he said. At the end of 2021, Chinese creditors accounted for almost $6 billion of Zambia's external debt, which was then $17.27 billion. The Export-Import Bank of China is representing all Chinese creditors in their restructuring negotiations with Zambia, Musokotwane said. These include commercial banks, the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS), Jiangxi Bank (1916.HK) and China Minsheng Bank (600016.SS).

☆ China will use timely RRR cuts to keep liquidity ample -state media cites cabinet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BEIJING (Reuters) -China will use timely cuts in banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR), alongside other monetary policy tools, to keep liquidity reasonably ample, state media on Wednesday quoted a cabinet meeting as saying. Chinese Yuan banknotes are seen in this illustration taken February 10, 2020. The cabinet will send officials to provinces this month to check the implementation of policy measures that have been rolled out this year, state media said. The cabinet also called for speeding up investment and construction of major infrastructure projects, and called for stabilising and expanding consumption and vowed to support sound development of the platform economy, state media said. Deputy PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng said the bank would provide 200 billion yuan ($27.93 billion) in loans to six commercial banks for housing completions, state media Economic Daily said on Monday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would fall to 800 billion yuan in October. Household loans, including mortgages, contracted by 18 billion yuan in October, versus 650.3 billion yuan in September, while corporate loans dropped to 462.2 billion yuan from 1.92 trillion yuan, central bank data showed. China's local governments issued a net 24.1 billion yuan in special bonds in September, the finance ministry has said, down from 51.6 billion yuan in August. China's local governments issued a net 24.1 billion yuan in special bonds in September, the finance ministry has said, down from 51.6 billion yuan in August. In October, TSF fell sharply to 907.9 billion yuan from 3.53 trillion yuan in September.

Creditors and investors are closely monitoring how China, the world's largest bilateral lender, is managing debt negotiations around the world. The policy bank has extended to Zambia more than half of Chinese loans while a $982 million loan was made jointly with the Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Including commercial lending, Zambia government data showed it owed more than a third of its $17.27 billion external debt to Chinese lenders by end-2021. Reuters GraphicsThe bank also leads China's team in Ethiopia's bilateral debt talks, its state finance minister told Reuters last month. In 2018, EximBank agreed to extend repayment on a loan worth at least $2.5 billion for a railway between Addis Ababa and Djibouti by 20 years.

☆ China inflation at 29-mth high but price pressure largely benign
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Consumer prices rose an expected 2.8% from a year earlier, accelerating from 2.5% in August and climbing at the fastest pace since April 2020, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. The producer price index (PPI) rose 0.9% year-on-year, easing sharply from a 2.3% rise in August and hitting the weakest since January 2021. "Headline CPI inflation (on a year-over-year basis) is likely to stay moderate in the coming months on both a high base and subdued services demand," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note. Food was largely behind last month's inflation pickup, with prices up 8.8% on year after a 6.1% gain in August. Reuters GraphicsOn a month-on-month basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% after a 0.1% fall in August, also supported by a monthly rise in pork prices.

☆ China new bank lending nearly doubles after central bank help
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Judy Hua | Kevin Yao | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

FILE PHOTO: 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. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would rise to 1.80 trillion yuan in September. New yuan loans totalled 18.08 trillion yuan in the first nine months, rising 1.36 trillion yuan from a year earlier, central bank data showed. Broad M2 money supply in September grew 12.1% from a year earlier, central bank data showed, in line with analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll. In September, TSF rose to 3.53 trillion yuan from 2.43 trillion yuan in August.

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