China is ordering state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and government procurement projects to pay small suppliers in cash, reports Caixin. The policy is aimed at stepping up a campaign against chronic payment delays that have strained businesses.

The State Council on Thursday issued new rules aimed at tightening oversight of large companies’ payment practices and preventing them from using commercial bills and electronic receivables certificates to delay payments to small and midsize enterprises.

The measures come as unpaid corporate bills continue to mount despite earlier government efforts to clear arrears. Receivables at China’s large industrial companies reached RMB 28.9 trillion ($4.3 trillion) at the end of July, up 8.5% from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The average collection period rose to 71.9 days, nearly one day longer than a year earlier. 

Alipay+’s proposal to link with India’s instant payments system for cross-border transactions has been stalled due to national security concerns ‌in New Delhi and questions about the storage and use of customer data, reports Reuters citing inside sources.

The proposal, made by Alipay+ in January, was the first by a China-linked entity in the financial services sector and came against the backdrop of easing tensions between the two neighbours, which had a deadly border clash ​in 2020.

The ⁠Indian government’s concerns about Alipay+’s proposal stem from its Chinese links, data-security risks and the potential misuse of customer data, three sources ​said. The sources requested anonymity because the discussions are confidential. 

A Chinese court sentenced China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka Yan to life in prison Thursday, reports Caixin. The move caps the downfall of the tycoon who built the country’s most indebted property empire.

The Shenzhen court convicted Hui of orchestrating massive financial fraud, illegal fundraising and bribery between 2016 and 2021, according to a court statement.

The court fined Evergrande and Hengda Real Estate, two of China Evergrande’s major Chinese mainland subsidiaries, RMB 8.82 billion ($1.3 billion) and RMB 7 billion, respectively. It ordered the confiscation of all Hui’s personal property, though the ruling noted that restitution for victims takes priority over state fines and asset seizures.

China said that a European Union investigation into Chinese ‌e-commerce giant JD.com constituted “improper extraterritorial jurisdiction” and ordered entities not to implement or assist with the probe, reports Reuters.

The ​order, issued by the justice ministry, is ​the second time that China has invoked ⁠its regulations countering “unlawful extraterritorial jurisdiction measures”. Introduced in ​April, the regulations expanded Beijing’s economic pressure toolkit amid ​strained ties with trading partners including the EU.

The European Commission opened an investigation in May into JD.com’s $2.5 billion bid for ​German electronics retailer Ceconomy under the Foreign ​Subsidies Regulation, citing concerns that JD.com might have received ‌foreign ⁠subsidies that could distort the bloc’s market.

China has hit back against a round of US sanctions with a barrage of countersanctions targeting a group of American entities and a tightening of export restrictions on the drone supply chain, reports the South China Morning Post.

The export controls will subject any shipments of “drones, their key components and related technologies” to the US to “strict case-by-case scrutiny”, with the measures set to take effect immediately, the ministry said in a statement, citing the need to “safeguard national security and meet China’s international commitments on non-proliferation”.

On the same day, the commerce ministry also added six US entities to its countermeasures list–banning Chinese entities and individuals from cooperating with them–over allegations that they had assisted US sanctions related to China’s Xinjiang region, describing their conduct as “egregious”. A seventh US company, Compliance Testing, was added to the countermeasures list for assisting the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in introducing measures that “endanger China’s sovereignty, security and development interests”.