CX Daily: China Relaxes Restrictions on Overseas Loans so Developers Can Repay Dollar Bonds

Bonds /

China relaxes restrictions on overseas loans so developers can repay dollar bonds

China’s financial regulators recently loosened restrictions on a lending mechanism to encourage banks to offer loans to overseas branches of property companies, many of which are struggling to repay their U.S. dollar bonds, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin.

The mechanism (内保外贷) allows a real estate business on the Chinese mainland to apply for financing guarantees from a domestic bank, enabling overseas units to apply for a loan from offshore branches of the bank.

Covid-19 /

Beijing scraps Covid test requirement for public places

Beijing residents no longer need to show a negative Covid test result to enter most public venues including supermarkets and office buildings, the local government said Tuesday.

People can also enter residential communities without showing the nucleic acid test results, according to a government statement.

Obituary /

Former Caixin deputy editor-in-chief Zhang Jin dies at 56

Zhang Jin, former deputy editor-in-chief of Caixin Media Co. Ltd. and founder of Dogo, a Chinese social media platform that provides support for people suffering depression, died Monday at the age of 56.

“Today we are deeply saddened… Dogo has lost the founding father who laid the basis for our mission and business, and a leader in exploring ecological healing systems for depression,” said his obituary posted Monday on Dogo’s WeChat platform. The obituary did not mention the cause of Zhang’s death.

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Financing /

Former HKEX CEO Charles Li to launch Micro Connect exchange in Macau

Former Hong Kong Stock Exchange chief Charles Li won approval to set up a financial assets exchange in Macao for the micro enterprises financing platform he co-founded, Li said Monday.

Micro Connect (Macao) Financial Assets Exchange Co. Ltd. is expected to start operation by the end of the first quarter, Li said. The enterprise will offer global investors access to China’s real economy with a new asset class – Daily Revenue Contract Certificates, or DRCCs, he said. Li is the former chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX).

Quick hits /

China’s local credit market weakens further on fund outflows

Wang Tao: What to expect from China’s Central Economic Work Conference

BUSINESS & TECH

The Zhengzhou factory accounts for 80% of iPhone 14 capacity and more than 85% of iPhone 14 Pro capacity.

Foxconn /

Foxconn’s sales plunge amid Zhengzhou iPhone factory disruption

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported that sales for November fell nearly 30% from October due to production shortfalls from disruptions at a key iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

The Taiwanese company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, said the revenue decline was in line with its estimate. The Covid outbreak in Zhengzhou has been “brought under control,” and production will improve through the rest of the year, the company said.

Logistics /

China road freight falls for third straight week as Covid curbs linger

Road freight volume fell in China for the third consecutive week even as authorities signaled an easing of some harsh “zero-Covid” measures, while a nationwide mishmash of contradictory tightening and loosening injected uncertainty.

In the week through Dec. 4, China’s road freight volume index dropped 8.6% week-on-week to 76.5 after falling 12.5% the previous week, according to data from industry information provider G7. The index measures truck traffic volume and the quantity of goods processed in major logistics centers. Year-on-year, the week’s slump was a much sharper 39.7%.

Solar /

Unrestrained investment creates looming glut for China’s solar supply chain, analysts say

China, by far the world’s largest producer of solar panels and components, is likely to face a glut of photovoltaic materials next year as recent capacity expansions up and down the supply chain look set to outstrip demand, according to some analysts.

Polysilicon, the main raw material used in solar panel manufacturing, will be in “severe oversupply” in 2023 as reckless investments by industry newcomers are set to double annual production capacity to about 2.5 million tons next year, analysts at Shanghai Metals Market (SMM), a market intelligence provider, wrote in a note last week.

Quick hits /

BYD has Tesla in its sights after a year of runaway growth

Shein to spend $15 million on factories after labor abuse findings

Tech Insider /

Foxconn’s sales fall, CATL looks to battery-powered ships

Long Read /

How Jiang Zemin helped coin ‘socialistic market economy’

GALLERY

China mourns Jiang Zemin

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