Mainland firms face cash crunch as regulators squeeze shadow financing

Insolvencies among mainland Chinese companies are expected to rise with many extending terms of payments with creditors amid a cash crunch caused by greater scrutiny from regulators of off-balance sheet funding channels, South China Morning Post reported, citing a report from insurance giant Euler Hermes. The report comes on the heels of the biggest jump in the official non-performing loan ratio in a decade, with local governments also coming up short on payments after the central government put curbs on their borrowing channels last year, asking them instead to look to fledgling municipal bond markets as a source of funding.