Trade tensions between the US and China have made companies around the world less keen to invest in either country, reports the South China Morning Post citing a report from Allianz Trade. The report found the United States almost twice as unpopular as its rival.

The report, based on an annual survey by the Paris-based international insurance company, said US-China decoupling had not materialized, but investment intention towards China had dropped “significantly” to 24% of survey respondents, down from 53% a year ago. The survey tracked corporate expectations for exports, global trade and supply chains by collecting views from 6,000 companies in 13 markets before and after the US-Israel strikes on Iran in February and March.

Amid an overall decline in outbound investment appetite globally due to heightened geopolitical tensions, the US and China had “suffered the most” from the loss of potential future investment, the survey found, with the number of firms that considering the US an export growth platform dropping to 13%, down from 17% last year.

China will issue special sovereign bonds to recapitalize some of its largest banks, reports Bloomberg. The move marks an expansion of Beijing’s efforts to fortify the nation’s $69 trillion financial system against a cooling economy and market volatility.

A total of RMB 300 billion ($44 billion) worth of special government bonds will be sold this year to replenish core tier-1 capital at large commercial banks, according to a Ministry of Finance report seen by Bloomberg.

The fresh capital injection is designed to provide banks relief for profit margins, which have been eroded by falling interest rates. The capital allows for expanded lending capacity and larger provisions for potential bad debts.

State-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), manufacturer of the C909 regional airliner and flagship narrowbody C919, recently infused RMB 634 million ($91.76 million) into C909 launch customer Chengdu Airlines, reports the South China Morning Post. Comac has a 48% controlling stake of the airline.

Combined with funding from other sources, the injection has nearly tripled Chengdu Airlines’ registered capital from RMB 680 million to RMB 2 billion, a move analysts viewed as laying the groundwork for more C909s to reach locales in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Russia on commercial flights.

Chengdu Airlines put out notices in recent months recruiting partners for new international routes using the C909, including service to Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in Russia and Osh in Kyrgyzstan.

Unisplendour Corporation, a subsidiary of state-backed Tsinghua Holdings, has scrapped year-long plans to get listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, reports the South China Morning Post. Instead, it will raise $800 million via a private share placement on the Shenzhen exchange.

The Shenzhen-listed developer of cloud computing software and manufacturer of servers and storage systems said in an exchange filing on Wednesday that its board had voted to terminate the proposed share issuance on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The termination would not have any “significant impact” on its business operations, the statement added.

Simultaneously, Unisplendour announced plans to raise up to RMB 5.57 billion (US$800 million) via a private placement of shares on the Shenzhen bourse to fund the acquisition of a further 7% stake in H3C Technologies, buy research and development equipment and repay loans.

The Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, backed by the municipal government, has expanded one of its three funds more than 11-fold, reports the South China Morning Post. The move aims to pump more capital into the city’s chip firms as part of China’s broader pursuit of tech self-reliance.

The third phase of the fund, also known as Shanghai IC Fund III, recently increased its registered capital by RMB 5.5 billion ($794 million) to RMB 6 billion, according to business registry database Aiqicha. It added two new equity investors, namely Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Leading IC Private Equity Investment Fund, which is set to inject RMB 4.5 billion and Pudong Venture Capital, owned by the district government of Pudong, which is contributing RMB 500 million.

The Shanghai IC Fund has invested in more than 20 local chip companies, including wafer foundries Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) and HLMC, which is a subsidiary of Hua Hong Group, as well as ACM Research Shanghai, a semiconductor cleaning tool manufacturer.