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HONG KONG/BEIJING, Nov 24 (Reuters) - China's biggest commercial banks have pledged at least $162 billion in fresh credit to property developers, bolstering recent regulatory measures to ease a stifling cash crunch in the sector and triggering a rally in property shares. Three state-owned banks lined up around $131 billion worth of credit lines to developers on Thursday, a day after three other lenders committed $31 billion, responding to Beijing's call for support. The massive, coordinated injection of liquidity into the property sector buoyed the shares of major developers on Thursday. PSBC late on Thursday announced that it would provide a total of 280 billion yuan in financing to Country Garden as well as others. China Construction Bank Corp (601939.SS) signed cooperative agreements with eight property developers, including Vanke, Longfor and Midea, financial media outlet Yicai reported.

☆ Anwar Ibrahim: Who is Malaysia's new prime minister?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nov 24 (Reuters) - Malaysia's new prime minister, 75-year-old Anwar Ibrahim, was sworn in on Thursday, bringing to a close his three-decade quest for the job that had eluded him time and again and led to him spending nearly a decade in jail. As opposition leader, Anwar led tens of thousands of Malaysians in street protests in the 1990s against his mentor-turned-foe Mahathir Mohamad. Anwar started off as a firebrand Islamic youth leader before joining then prime minister Mahathir's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the Barisan Nasional alliance. Anwar's appointment as prime minister brings an end to a political crisis after an election on Saturday ushered in an unprecedented hung parliament. Between stints as deputy prime minister in the 1990s and as official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018, Anwar spent nearly a decade in jail for sodomy and corruption on charges he says were politically motivated.

☆ Malaysia’s Anwar becomes prime minister, ending decades-long wait
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey from a protege of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, a prisoner convicted of sodomy, and opposition leader. Both men failed to win a majority in a Saturday election, but the constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, appointed Anwar after speaking to several lawmakers. Anwar was sworn in as Malaysia's prime minister on Thursday, ending a political impasse. Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty ImagesMalaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (right) appointed Anwar (left) after consulting with lawmakers. The decision on the prime minister came down to King Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, after both Anwar and Muhyiddin missed his Tuesday afternoon deadline to put together a ruling alliance.

☆ Chinese lender BoCom agrees $14 bln credit line with developer Vanke
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Nov 23 (Reuters) - China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS) said on Wednesday it would provide a 100 billion yuan ($13.98 billion) credit line to developer Vanke in the latest sign of support for the embattled property sector. The property sector makes up about a quarter of the economy. Under the agreement, BoCom will likely offer Vanke (000002.SZ) property development loans, mortgage loans and loans for merger and acquisition deals, according to a statement released by the lender. The agreement is part of the bank's efforts to implement 16 measures outlined by Chinese regulators to support the property sector, it said in the statement. China's property sector, once a pillar of growth, has slowed sharply this year due to government efforts to restrict excessive borrowing by developers.

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A slew of recent supportive measures will bring China's cash-strapped property developers much needed relief, but a full recovery of the sector will be hobbled by increasingly elusive buyers, say bankers, developers and analysts. "These policies will have little lasting effect and the property prices will not go up significantly," said Jack Yang, an engineer in Beijing, noting "future income" had become a key concern for homebuyers. Despite the recent liquidity-boosting measures, some bankers say developers continue to face credit risks given the uncertain outlook. According to UBS, Chinese banks have roughly 88 trillion yuan ($12.43 trillion) worth of exposure to the property sector. It estimates the property sector downturn will cost the banking system up to 1.4-1.5 trillion yuan in the next few years, mainly from potential losses in banks' unsecured property development loans, bonds, and non-standard assets.

☆ National feminist organizations break their silence on Amber Heard in an open letter of support
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kat Tenbarge | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kahlan-Rosenblatt.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

It was written by a group of people who identify as domestic violence survivors and supporters of Heard. Many who did speak out in support of Heard, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, were met with ferocious backlash from Depp’s supporters online. Others who signed the letter echoed their concerns that reaction to the trial on social media was harmful to everyday victims of domestic violence. Since the trial, there has been more public support for Heard on social media, the spokesperson for the group behind the letter said. She and other anonymous Heard supporters had been “working to combat disinformation for months” when they joined for the open letter initiative.

☆ As world population hits 8 billion, China frets over too few babies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Such decisions by countless people like Tang will determine the course not only of China's population but that of the world, which the United Nations says is projected to reach 8 billion on Tuesday. Tang, 39, said many of his married friends have only one child and, like him, they are not planning any more. But now the United Nations expects China's population will start shrinking from next year, when India will likely become the world’s most populous country. China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is now about 13% but is set to rise sharply.

☆ Southeast Asia leaders kick off ASEAN summit in Cambodia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Cambodia, this year's chair for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is hosting the weekend summit in Phnom Penh — the group's first in-person meeting since the Covid pandemic. Leaders from the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan will also be meeting ASEAN leaders in Phnom Penh. "Looking to the future, ASEAN needs to strongly promote the values that have made ASEAN successful over the past five decades. The ASEAN nations want more trading partners, the more, the better," he told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Thursday. The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia is a peace treaty among Southeast Asian countries established in 1976.watch now

☆ China amends rules for management of insurance bailout funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 10 (Reuters) - China has amended rules for the management of state-run bailout funds rescuing troubled insurers, its financial regulators said on Thursday. The rules aim to promote healthy development of the insurance industry, prevent and resolve financial risks and maintain financial stability, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its website. The company operates bailout funds that provide money to rescue policyholders and liquidate troubled insurers. Shareholders and management should also cooperate with authorities in the process of liquidating an insurance company with the support of the funds, the rules said. The new rules also adapt the cap of money that insurance companies should hand on to supplement the funds.

☆ Cathay Pacific's new chief Lam to spearhead COVID recovery, two-brand plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Jamie Freed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Now that the Asian financial hub has scrapped onerous hotel quarantine rules, the airline is looking to build up passenger numbers. "Cathay has a mountain to climb to replace the staff, particularly pilots, that have left and continue to leave," he said. Lam, 50, joined Cathay in 1996, and was previously its chief customer and commercial officer. The two men took the top jobs in August 2019, after the resignation of then chief executive Rupert Hogg and Paul Loo, chief customer and commercial officer, amid mounting Chinese regulatory scrutiny of employees' involvement in the protests. Cathay's new chief customer and commercial officer is Lavinia Lau, 52, who moves from the role of director of customer travel, into a strong position to become its first female chief executive.

☆ Cathay Pacific appoints long-serving executive Ronald Lam as next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) said on Wednesday that long-serving executive Ronald Lam would take over as chief executive from Jan. 1, with current boss Augustus Tang set to retire, as the pandemic-hit airline rebuilds capacity. Lam, 50, who joined Cathay in 1996, was previously the airline's chief customer and commercial officer and viewed by analysts as the most likely successor to Tang, 64, at an airline where the chief executive's tenure is usually around three years. Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cathay’s outgoing boss can flash half-decent card
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Nov 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Cathay Pacific’s (0293.HK) new boss has reason for optimism. The outgoing chief executive can flash a half-decent report card. He navigated the Air China- (601111.SS) and Swire Pacific-backed (0019.HK) company through backlash from Beijing after employees took part in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. The $6 billion airline has seen a modest rebound of travellers since Hong Kong dropped hotel quarantine requirements. Since Tang’s appointment in August 2019, Cathay has logged a negative total return of 16%.

HONG KONG — After mass unrest in 2019, a pandemic that left it isolated from the world and the imposition of a national security law that has crushed dissent, Hong Kong is ready to turn the page. According to government statistics, about 319,000 people arrived in Hong Kong last month, down 97% from 10.8 million in October 2019. According to one report last month, Hong Kong has lost its status as Asia’s top financial center to Singapore. While it may not be realistic to expect businesses to turn away from China’s huge market, global business leaders “need to recognize that there’s a new situation in Hong Kong, there’s a new reality,” said Brian Kern, the lead researcher for a report on doing business in Hong Kong that was published last month by the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a nonprofit group based in Washington. Lee also pointed to a report in September in which Hong Kong topped Singapore as the world’s freest economy.

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.

Yields on U.S. Treasury securities, which had dropped sharply after the Fed statement was released, turned higher. The 2-year note - the bond maturity most sensitive to Fed policy expectations - was up 6 basis points to about 4.61%. The document "implied that (the Fed) may be aiming for a higher medium-term level for the fed funds rate than currently expected," Nelson said. The language in the policy statement acknowledged the broad debate that has emerged around the Fed's policy tightening, and opened a new stage in that discussion. The Fed's statement "was a lot more definite about a possible downshift than I thought it would be.

☆ Fearing COVID, workers flee from Foxconn's vast Chinese iPhone plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He walked through the night, keeping to a northerly route, towards his hometown of Hebi, every step taking him farther away from iPhone maker Foxconn's (2317.TW) Zhengzhou plant, the Taiwan-based group's largest in mainland China. "There were so many people on the road," Yuan told Reuters on Monday, declining to give his full name because of the matter's sensitivity. "People would be called away in the middle of work, and if they don't show up the next day, that would mean they had been taken away," Yuan said. On Sunday afternoon, the company told Reuters in an emailed statement that workers were allowed to leave if they chose to. "I'll never go back to Foxconn," said Yuan, who has since been transported to Hebi and put under quarantine.

☆ China c.bank reaffirms it will step up support for real economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) - China's central bank will step up credit support for the real economy while keeping the yuan basically steady, Governor Yi Gang said in comments published on Sunday, reaffirming the bank's existing policy objectives. "We will keep liquidity reasonably ample, increase credit support to the real economy," Yi was quoted by a central bank statement as saying during a parliament session on Friday. The central bank will make 200 billion yuan ($27.6 billion)in special loans to ensure the delivery of stalled housing projects, Yi said. China will properly resolve financial risks in the real estate sector and guide financial institutions to meet property developers' demand for financing, within reason, Yi said. Between 2017 and 2021, China disposed of non-performing assets in the banking sector worth more than 12 trillion yuan, he said.

☆ Chinese cities brace for wave of Foxconn workers from COVID-hit Zhengzhou
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Taiwan-based Foxconn, which has about 300,000 workers in Zhengzhou, has not disclosed the number of infected workers. On Oct. 19, Foxconn banned all dining-in at canteens and required workers to take their meals in their dormitories, but assured that production was normal. Photographs and videos circulating widely on Chinese social media since Saturday showed Foxconn workers trekking across fields in the day and along roads at night. "They were Foxconn employees who escaped from the factory and were walking home," wrote a user of WeChat in a post about the social media images. Returning workers are to travel "point-to-point" in pre-arranged vehicles en route, and are to be quarantined on arrival, they said in separate letters on their respective social media accounts addressed to Zhengzhou Foxconn workers.

☆ China reports 2,105 new COVID cases for Oct 29 vs 1,658 a day earlier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) - China reported 2,105 new COVID-19 infections on Oct. 29, of which 401 were symptomatic and 1,704 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Sunday. That compared with 1,658 new infections on Oct. 28, of which 377 were symptomatic and 1,281 were asymptomatic, which China counts separately. As of Oct. 29, mainland China had confirmed 259,438 cases with symptoms. China's capital Beijing reported 12 symptomatic and three asymptomatic cases, compared with 20 symptomatic and two asymptomatic case the previous day, local government data showed. Financial hub Shanghai reported zero symptomatic and nine asymptomatic cases, compared with one symptomatic and eight asymptomatic cases a day before, the local health authority reported.

☆ China names Chen Yixin as state security minister -parliament
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) - China has appointed Chen Yixin as state security minister, replacing Chen Wenqing who was promoted to oversee police, legal affairs and intelligence, the National People's Congress, or parliament, said on Sunday. Chen Yixin, who was elected to the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee during its once-every-five-years congress this month, had been in charge of a campaign in recent years to purge corrupt security and legal officials. Chen Wenqing's promotion marked the first time that a spy chief was tapped to fill the top security position, which had typically been held by a former minister of public security. Analysts said this reflects the bigger role intelligence is likely to play in China's security during President Xi Jinping's third term. Xi emphasised China's national security in a report at this month's congress.

☆ Three of China's largest lenders report over 6% rise in third quarter profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People stand at a booth of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) during the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Three of China's largest lenders posted third quarter profit rises of over 6% as non-performing loan ratios shrunk. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) (601398.SS), the world's largest commercial lender by assets, said net profit rose 6.8% year-on-year in the third quarter in a Friday filing. All three lenders posted slight falls in non-performing loan ratios in the third quarter. Both ICBC and AgBank posted NPL ratios of 1.4% for the end of September compared to 1.41% at the end of the quarter before.

☆ Fed on track for tens of billions in losses amid inflation fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Those losses will not impede the central bank’s ability to conduct monetary policy but could over time expose it to friction on the political front. What’s more, getting a handle on how much money the Fed might lose is difficult given the highly unsettled economic outlook. FED PAYS TO PARK CASH ON SIDELINESThe Fed is losing money due to the mechanics of monetary policy. By paying interest to a mix of banks, money funds and others, the Fed keeps the federal funds rate in its desired range. The Fed funds its operations through services it provides banks and via interest from bonds it owns.

☆ Analysis: Decade of central bank largesse haunts taxpayers as losses loom
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Signage is seen outside the European Central Bank (ECB) building, in Frankfurt, Germany, July 21, 2022. The British government, which received 120 billion pounds in profits from the BoE since 2009, has already earmarked a transfer of 11 billion pounds for the central bank. It will contribute to losses of around 40 billion euros for euro zone central banks next year, according to Morgan Stanley. They have all warned of upcoming losses and the Dutch central bank openly said it risked needing a bailout, although finance minister Sigrid Kaag later cautioned this was "not yet on the table". By contrast, central banks with less cash and higher-yielding bonds in Italy, Spain and Greece were likely to fare better.

☆ Alibaba, Tencent shares plummet 11% alongside China tech stocks as Xi tightens grip on power
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tech giants Alibaba and Tencent closed down more than 11% in Asia; search company Baidu was 12% lower while food delivery firm Meituan tanked more than 14%. That makes it unlikely that anyone would challenge any "policy mistakes" that Xi makes which could hamper growth of the tech sector, Xin Sun, senior lecturer in Chinese and East Asian business, at King's College London said. Under Xi's leadership, China has implemented a raft of policy that has tightened regulation on the tech sector in areas from data protection to governing the way in which algorithms can be used. "Tech stocks have never been the best friend of Xi and it's clear that the market thinks that purge will continue," Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners, told CNBC. As part of the leadership reshuffle in China, Li Qiang, party secretary of Shanghai is expected to be made premier next year.

☆ ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ author Jeff Kinney shares his book picks for middle readers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Megan Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —When author Jeff Kinney started writing the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series more than 15 years ago, he set out to create a comic that would resonate with adults and live in the humor section of book stores. “I’m really glad that I didn’t know that I was writing for kids because I think that oftentimes when an adult writes a kid’s book, they start with the lesson in mind. And so the priority of the book becomes the lesson,” Kinney recalled in a recent interview with CNN. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” has sold more than 275 million copies, according to its publisher, with book number 17 in the series, “Diper Överlöde,” releasing Oct. 25. Kinney's next "Wimpy Kid" book, "Diper Överlöde," releases on Oct. 25.

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