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☆ Lenders fail to sell Evergrande's Hong Kong headquarters by tender - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. REUTERS/Aly SongHONG KONG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The tender sale of embattled China Evergrande Group's (3333.HK) Hong Kong headquarters has lapsed again, two sources with knowledge said, because the offer prices and terms did not meet requirements. Chinese state-owned China Citic Bank Corp Ltd (601998.SS), whose Hong Kong subsidiary leads the lender group, did not immediately respond to request for comment. Evergrande and Savills, agent for the tender sale, declined to comment. ($1 = 7.8102 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Clare Jim; Additional reporting by Ziyi Tang in Beijing; Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tender sale of Evergrande's Hong Kong headquarters fails again -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. REUTERS/Aly SongHONG KONG, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A tender for the sale of embattled China Evergrande Group's (3333.HK) headquarters in Hong Kong has lapsed again, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, because the offer prices and terms fell short of requirements. The tower had been pledged against a loan of HK$7.6 billion from lenders led by the Hong Kong subsidiary of Chinese state-owned China Citic Bank Corp Ltd (601998.SS). Evergrande and Savills, the agent for the tender sale, declined to comment. ($1=7.8102 Hong Kong dollars)Additional reporting by Ziyi Tang in Beijing; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taiwan reports China's largest incursion yet to air defense zone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

J-20 stealth fighter jets fly during training for the 14th Airshow China in Guangdong province on Nov. 5, 2022. Seventy-one Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets and drones entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone in the past 24 hours, the island's government said on Monday, the largest reported incursion to date. Of the aircraft, 43 also crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, an unofficial buffer between the two sides that lies within the defense zone, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said in a report, as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island. Taiwan's official Central News Agency said it was the largest Chinese air force incursion to date, although there was no sense of alarm on the island, which has witnessed a steady increase in Chinese pressure in recent years. Taiwan, which strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, said the drills showed Beijing was destroying regional peace and trying to intimidate Taiwan's people.

☆ Hong Kong aims for mid-January reopening of border with mainland China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Hong Kong will reopen its borders with mainland China by mid-January, city Chief Executive John Lee said on Saturday, as Beijing accelerates the unwinding of stringent COVID-19 rules that have battered economic growth. Hong Kong authorities will work with the governments of neighbouring Shenzhen city and Guangdong province to manage the flow of people crossing the border, Lee said. The reopening was postponed several times due to outbreaks in Hong Kong or the mainland. Hong Kong and China have lagged most of the world in easing stringent COVID rules. International passengers arriving in Hong Kong since mid-month are no longer subject to COVID-related movement controls or barred from certain venues.

☆ Asia markets set for mixed session ahead of private survey results on China's services activity
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Abigail Ng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Citizens dine at a restaurant on December 1, 2022 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China. Shares in the Asia-Pacific were poised to trade mixed on Monday ahead of the results of the Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index, a private survey on China's services activity. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 27,635 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,700. That compared against the Nikkei 225's last close at 27,777.90. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.31%.

☆ Covid protests escalate in Guangzhou as China lockdown anger boils
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

TwitterSocial media posts said the clashes took place on Tuesday night and were caused by a dispute over lockdown curbs. China Dissent Monitor, run by U.S. government-funded Freedom House, estimated at least 27 demonstrations took place across China from Saturday to Monday. In Zhengzhou, the site of a big Foxconn factory making Apple iPhones that has been the scene of worker unrest over Covid, officials announced the “orderly” resumption of businesses, including supermarkets, gyms and restaurants. Data on Wednesday showed China’s manufacturing and services activity for November posting the lowest readings since Shanghai’s two-month lockdown began in April. Chinese stocks were steady, with markets weighing endemic economic weakness against hopes that the public pressure could push China to eventually reopen.

☆ Renault-Airbus partnership to develop new generation of electric batteries
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A model of Airbus A350-1000 jetliner is displayed at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoPARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) announced on Wednesday a partnership with French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) to develop a new generation of electric batteries for cars and planes. Engineering teams from both companies will join forces to mature technologies related to energy storage, one of the main roadblocks for the development of long-range electric vehicles, Airbus said in a statement. "Aviation is an extremely demanding field in terms of both safety and energy consumption, and so is the car industry." The collaboration will focus on energy management optimisation and battery weight improvement while also studying the full life cycle of future batteries and assessing their carbon footprint.

☆ China's Guangzhou city relaxes COVID rules in several districts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Guangzhou relaxed COVID prevention rules in several districts on Wednesday in an effort to implement rules authorities announced this month aimed at easing the burden of the strict zero-COVID policy. read moreGuangzhou, China's manufacturing hub, has been hard hit in China's latest COVID-19 outbreaks and people in the southern city took to the streets to protest against the strict COVID-prevention rules on the weekend. The relaxation of curbs comes after the city of 19 million people recorded fewer coronavirus cases over the past few days. Authorities in city districts including Haizhu, Baiyun, Fanyu, Tianhe, Conghua, Huadu, Liwan, said in statements they were lifting temporary lockdowns. One district, Conghua, said it would allow in-person classes in schools to resume and would reopen restaurants and other businesses including cinemas.

[1/6] Police arrive at a protest against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of COVID-19 continue, in Beijing, China, November 28, 2022. Social media posts said the clashes took place on Tuesday night and were caused by a dispute over lockdown curbs. In Zhengzhou, the site of a vast Foxconn factory making Apple iPhones that has been the scene of worker unrest over COVID, officials announced the "orderly" resumption of businesses, including supermarkets, gyms and restaurants. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that protesters in China should not be physically harmed or intimidated. The head of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva flagged a possible downgrade in the fund's economic growth forecasts for China.

☆ China decoupling takes one step forward, one back
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It has pushed for reshoring production of electric vehicles and silicon chips, and legislated to delist Chinese companies from New York. Europe, Japan, Australia and India have implemented their own measures ranging from restrictions on Chinese investment, excluding equipment from telecoms networks, and banning consumer apps. The impact the pandemic has had on Chinese supply chains has retroactively validated the push to separate. For politicians who hope to replicate the Chinese supply chain via tax tweaks, subsidies and sanctions, it’s worth remembering China started building out the requisite logistical infrastructure in the 1980s. Non-financial outbound direct investment in the same 10-month period rose 10.3% year-on-year to 627.4 billion yuan, Shu said.

☆ China's Shenzhen Energy signs long-term LNG contract with BP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Nov 26 (Reuters) - China's Shenzhen Energy Group (000027.SZ) has signed a long-term agreement with oil major BP (BP.L) to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG), aiming to lock in supplies with gas-fired power generation poised to surge in the world's second-largest economy. The agreement is Shenzhen Energy's first long-term international LNG contract and its first long-term contract with BP Singapore, the Chinese company said in a statement on Friday. "To meet the demand of Guangdong province and Shenzhen city for energy security and stability, Shenzhen Energy Group is making efforts to promote the construction of gas power plants," it said. "It is estimated that around 2024, as the gas power plants go into operation, the group's total demand for natural gas will significantly rise." QatarEnergy has signed a 27-year deal to supply LNG to China's Sinopec in the longest such agreement to date, as volatility drives buyers to seek long-term supplies.

☆ China Evergrande communicates with Wuhan over repossessed land
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A crane stands at a construction site near the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, Sept. 26, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoNov 24 (Reuters) - Debt-laden developer China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) is communicating with a Chinese municipal district in Wuhan City that repossessed 134,500 hectares (332.4 acres) of land formerly held by a unit of the group. China Evergrande said it is communicating with the government of Jiangxia District in Wuhan City and "will file an administrative review on this matter to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company". The company clarified that the municipal district retrieved its land-use rights over only 11 parcels of land under the project and it does not involve the project's other land parcels. China Evergrande, engulfed by $300 billion of liabilities in a deepening property sector debt crisis, aims to start negotiating restructuring terms next month and is combing through onshore assets to offer as credit enhancement to holders of its U.S. dollar-denominated bonds.

☆ For Chinese soccer fans, World Cup highlights COVID lockdown blues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] People wearing face masks sit at a bar decorated to celebrate FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 23, 2022. wrote another, mocking testing requirements in China that in some places are now daily amid a resurgence of cases. Comments like these have flooded Chinese social media since the World Cup began on Sunday night, a sign that some Chinese feel they have found a safe space to vent over the country's COVID policies. "My biggest takeaway from watching the world cup: no one is wearing a mask, and no one is afraid of the pandemic!" "The Qatar world cup tells us that the rest of the world has returned to normal," wrote another Weibo user.

☆ A jet built by China and Pakistan may soon be the most widely operated combat aircraft in the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China and Pakistan jointly developed the JF-17 combat jet, which first entered service in 2007. At the same time, China was showcasing the JF-17 at the annual China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zuhai, China. The events were the latest attempts by China and Pakistan to market their jointly developed fourth-generation fighter jet to international customers. JF-17 ThunderA Pakistan Air Force JF-17 takes off at a base in northern Pakistan in June 2013. The single-seat, single-engine jet is known in Pakistan as the JF-17 Thunder and as the FC-1 Xiaolong in China.

☆ Younger Chinese are spurning factory jobs that power the economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( David Kirton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

For his father's generation, factory work was a lifeline out of rural poverty. For Zhu, and millions of other younger Chinese, the low pay, long hours of drudgery and the risk of injuries are no longer sacrifices worth making. Factory bosses say they would produce more, and faster, with younger blood replacing their ageing workforce. But offering the higher wages and better working conditions that younger Chinese want would risk eroding their competitive advantage. Yet young workers are vital to keep production moving.

☆ Five countries, other than China, most dependent on the South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sean M. Holt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Territorially, there are seven claimants to the South China Sea: China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Analysts name the top five countries, other than China, that are most dependent on the South China Sea. Aerial view of fishing boats setting sail to South China Sea for fishing on August 16, 2022 in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province of China. "Although they claim more than half of the South China Sea, China has pushed claimant states such as Vietnam out of traditional fishing waters and more into the South China Sea, causing excessive overfishing." South KoreaSouth Korea is "intentionally quiet about the South China Sea" as it wants to "maintain favor with China," Graham said, citing Seoul's primary focus on the North Korean issue.

☆ Covid outbreak worsens in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Guangzhou city in the southern province of Guangdong is the hardest hit in the latest Covid outbreak. BEIJING — Covid infections are surging in the capital of China's export-heavy Guangdong province, raising concerns of another drag on the national economy. Schools in eight of 11 districts in the city of Guangzhou moved classes online for most students as of Thursday. "If Guangzhou repeats what Shanghai did in spring, it will lead to a new round of pessimism on China." State-owned automaker GAC Group said its manufacturers in Guangzhou were operating normally as of Thursday morning.

The districts in Guangzhou subject to mass testing this week include Haizhu, which has seen the bulk of the city's cases. Lily Li, a Guangzhou resident, said the outbreak in the city had worsened in the past two days, having spread to Tianhe, just north of Haizhu. While COVID cases in China are small by global standards, the policy response has been relentless and mass testing for large populations has been the norm since 2020. Mass testing is generally free, but some local governments are resuming charges for tests as their finances come under strain amid a slowing economy. A COVID testing company in Xuchang, a city in Henan province, said on Tuesday they would stop all testing-related work from Friday due to late payments from authorities.

☆ Guangzhou's COVID outbreak deepens as more lockdowns loom in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The increase was modest by global standards but significant for China, where outbreaks are quickly tackled when they surface. Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, reported 2,377 new local cases for Nov. 7, up from 1,971 the previous day. "The lockdown situation has continued to deteriorate quickly across the country over the past week, with our in-house China COVID lockdown index rising to 12.2% of China's total GDP from 9.5% last Monday," Nomura wrote in a note on Monday. "We continue to believe that, while Beijing may fine-tune some of its COVID measures in coming weeks, those fine-tuning measures could be more than offset by local officials' tightening of the zero-COVID strategy." In the southwest metropolis of Chongqing, the city reported 281 new local cases, more than doubling from 120 a day earlier.

☆ Comac C919: Covid restrictions cloud airshow debut of China's showpiece jet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

China’s zero-Covid policy has hampered its domestic aviation industry and kept international traffic at a tiny fraction of pre-pandemic levels as Western carriers rebound sharply. Tuesday’s opening marked the first time Western plane giants Airbus and Boeing have shared the stage with China’s new COMAC C919 single-aisle jet at the showpiece event. Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jets at Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on November 8. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) reported orders from leasing firms for 300 C919s and 30 ARJ21 regional jets. Production of the world’s largest jetliner ended last year after weak sales including a near-failure to conquer China’s market.

☆ China's exports unexpectedly shrink in October, badly missing expectations for growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING — China's exports fell by 0.3% in October from a year ago, missing Reuters expectations for a 4.3% increase. The decline in U.S.-dollar terms last month marked the first year-on-year drop since May 2020, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Imports fell in October by 0.7% in U.S.-dollar terms, also missing expectations for slight growth of 0.1%. The yuan weakened by nearly 3% against the U.S. dollar in October, according to Refinitiv Eikon. In yuan terms, exports rose by 7% and imports by 6.8%, customs data released Monday showed.

Xi Jinping consolidated his power in China with a reshuffle of the politburo standing committee. He also used the event to unveil the new members of the politburo standing committee. He is a new entry to the standing committee, and at 60, is its youngest member. He is another new member of the politburo standing committee and will help lead the central commission for discipline inspection. He previously worked as the party leader in Yan'an, which once served as the headquarters of the party before it took control of the whole country.

☆ Chinese cities clamp down on COVID as cases rise before winter season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In Guangdong province, manufacturing centre Guangzhou has seen a spate of cases over the past week that has closed some districts. Over the past week, authorities raced to get a handle on rising cases in Datong, Xining, Nanjing, Xian, Zhengzhou and Wuhan forcing temporary lockdown measures of some neighbourhoods. Datong, which recorded 288 cases from Oct. 27-30, has enforced stricter isolation and management of hotels, key industries and its railway. As winter nears, northern cities, particularly those close to international borders, are seeing higher case numbers and could face new curbs. Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang province, bordering North Korea, extended the temporary lockdown of some areas, according to local media reports.

☆ Li Xi gets graft-busting role on China's new Standing Committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Li Xi, the Communist Party chief of the economic powerhouse Guangdong province, assumed two new titles on Sunday when he was elevated to the elite Politburo Standing Committee and put in charge of the party's influential graft-busting body. Li's ties to Xi stem in part from his indirect links to Xi's late father, the Communist Party revolutionary Xi Zhongxun. His career took off in 2015 when he was appointed party secretary of Liaoning province in China's northeast. In 2017, he was named Guangdong party boss, a coveted role that propelled him onto the 25-member Politburo. All but one of the last five party chiefs in Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, have subsequently joined the Standing Committee.

☆ Factbox: Who's in, who's out of China's new party Central Committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Over 2,000 delegates to a twice-a-decade congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing elected a new 205-person Central Committee on Saturday that will set the course of Chinese policymaking for the next five years. Among the newly elected members of the Central Committee, the largest of the party's top decision-making bodies, was Xi Jinping, 69, who is widely expected to be named general secretary on Sunday, securing a precedent-breaking third term as its leader. Also on Sunday, the Central Committee will vote on its next Political Bureau, or Politburo, usually comprising 25 people, and its Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the pinnacle of power in China, helmed by Xi. Under an unofficial "seven-up, eight-down rule," PSC members who are 68 or older retire during the party congress. However, Premier Li Keqiang, although 67, was also left out.

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