Categories
Brief Commodities Economics & Trade

China launches steel anti-dumping probe against South Korea, Japan, EU

China’s Commerce Ministry is investigating the possible dumping of stainless steel imports from the EU, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, Reuters reports. China imported 703,000 tonnes of stainless steel billet and hot-rolled stainless steel in 2017, doubling from the previous year as a result of a 23% cut to import prices to $1,867 a tonne. Roughly two-thirds […]

Categories
Banking & Finance Brief Economics & Trade Law & Regulation

New rules for China’s risky wealth management market

China’s banking regulator has issued new rules for the country’s Rmb 21 trillion ($3 trillion) wealth management industry, Caixin reports, which has been a target of heightened scrutiny amid a build-up of risky shadow lending activity in recent years. The rules, designed to “remove uncertainties and stabilise market expectations”, would establish a centralised supervisory system […]

Categories
Brief Economics & Trade Politics & Society

Trump “ready to go” with slapping tariffs on all China imports

US President Donald Trump has said he is “ready to go” with respect to the introduction of tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese imports, as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to show no signs of easing. “I’m not doing this for politics; I’m doing this to do the right for our country,” Trump […]

Categories
Brief Economics & Trade Markets Property

China’s property market to peak before gradual decline

Analysts are increasingly confident that China’s housing market is due for a long-term decline in sales, according to the Financial Times, after reaching a high point this year. Some economists fear that the government rolling back a subsidy programme that was central to housing sales growth in recent years will top off a list of […]

Categories
Banking & Finance Brief Economics & Trade

Analysts slash credit ratings of smaller Chinese banks

Credit rating agencies have downgraded at least five smaller Chinese banks since the start of 2018, according to Bloomberg, as Beijing’s financial deleveraging drive takes a toll on institutions’ balance sheets. The downgrades are mainly due to a spike in the number of overdue and non-performing loans among the smaller Chinese players, with one lender—Guiyang Rural […]