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Dealing with debt

A construction crew works on an expressway in China’s Yunnan province, which has launched a 100-day campaign to boost economic growth. Photo: Xinhua

China names, shames 8 authorities after warning regions to curb hidden debt

Notices from top legislature and finance ministry come with debt management under the microscope amid scramble to achieve economic growth targets for 2024.

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Thailand plans a huge economic revamp to tackle its mountain of household debt

China’s crippling local government debt is getting worse: S&P Global Ratings

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Editorial | Fiscal shake-up must be a success for sake of the China economy

Ambitious plan by third plenum aims to overhaul taxation system to help cash-strapped local governments and the people they serve.

Expensive public services have cut into consumer spending as Chinese save to care for their children, elderly parents and themselves. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese banks follow belt road to expand loan book amid tight liquidity at home

Chinese banks are heading overseas to extend yuan loans to fund Belt and Road Initiative projects

Arcade claw machine animation employed by China court to shame, catch debtors

A court in China has come up with an innovative new strategy to shame and track down fugitive debtors by using an amusement arcade claw machine animation.

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Hong Kong court adjourns Kaisa’s winding-up case to August 12

The Shenzhen-based company has tried to restructure its debt for more than two years since it defaulted on US$12 billion of offshore debts since late 2021.

A construction site by Chinese property developer Kaisa Group at an area of downtown Shanghai on February 17, 2015. Photo: Reuters.

Chinese builder Road King warns of default risk unless creditors extend debt

Chinese developer Road King Infrastructure warns of default if its proposals to buy some bonds back at discounts and give the company more time to pay the rest of the debt, are rejected.

China’s ‘hidden debt’ seen shrinking, but scaling that mountain remains daunting

As Beijing continues to crack down on problematic local-level debt, economist Luo Zhiheng has run the numbers to estimate how much progress has been made.

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‘Rescue’ role of China’s distressed asset managers questioned amid property woes

China is seeking to defuse financial risks, with asset management companies expected to help other ailing sectors, particularly property developers, but the firms are already highly leveraged due to bond financing and exposure to the troubled real estate sector.

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China’a asset management companies are increasingly expected to help keep other ailing sectors afloat, particularly the country’s embattled property developers. Photo: Xinhua

Oaktree’s Inter Milan takeover deals final blow to Zhang’s Suning business empire

Zhang Jindong’s business empire was supposed to become the ‘Walmart plus Amazon’ of China. Instead, a soured bet on Italian football club Inter Milan has wiped out his billion-dollar fortune.

Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Holdings Group, delivers a speech during a June 2016 press briefing following its purchase of Inter Milan. Photo: AFP

China’s murky debt collections get new rules, like don’t harass borrowers

With household debt at worrisome levels, curbing consumption and China’s economic recovery, Beijing is interjecting in the largely unregulated process with new guidelines for issuing loans and collecting arrears.

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With Chinese loans looming, Maldives gets IMF warning over ‘debt distress’

As of June 2023, the Export-Import Bank of China owned 25.2 per cent of the Maldives’ external debt and was the country’s biggest single lender.

UBS weighs bonus for investment bankers who refer rich clients

UBS may start rewarding its bankers for referring clients to the firm’s wealth management business, in a first for the Zurich-based lender

A company banner outside the UBS Group AG annual general meeting (AGM) at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg

The View | IMF, World Bank must do more to defuse the bomb of poor nations’ debt

The focus is on retooling current approaches when what debt-burdened countries need is an economic re-engineering to produce more lucrative goods and innovative ways to pay down debt using commodities.

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A woman from a small village near Samre town in Tigray, Ethiopia, on May 26 last year. Ethiopia saw one of the bloodiest wars of the 21st century which led to widespread starvation. The African country has applied for debt restructuring under the G20’s Common Framework. Photo: Getty Images

Chinese tycoon Chen Hongtian faces demands from banks on overdue property loans

Chen Hongtian, who had snapped up mansions and offices in Hong Kong and London, faces demands from banks to repay more than US$200 million of overdue loans following the market slump.

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Country Garden seeks extension to three onshore bond payments amid cash crunch

Country Garden is pushing back some onshore bond payments to later dates despite a round of extensions last year, underscoring the financial stress at the Chinese property developer.

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China’s Fosun sells stake in Belgian insurer Ageas to BNP Paribas

More divestments to come, analyst says, as conglomerate aims to cut debts by US$1.38 billion annually in the next two to three years.

The logo of Fosun International is seen at a trade fair in Hong Kong in 2015. Photo: Reuters

‘We can’t fall behind’: China’s local debt woes hurt firms, create distrust

Wuhan University professor Feng Chuan says local government debt problems in China have torn apart the fundamental trust system that upholds social governance order.

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Chinese conglomerate Fosun dumps noncore assets, deleverages to boost financial profile

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is rapidly offloading assets as it looks to lower debt and concentrate on sustainable businesses

Hong Kong private credit bridges gap left by banks’ retreat, lends against property

Private credit lenders are capitalising on businesses’ thirst for generating liquidity from their property assets in Hong Kong, banking on the city’s sound legal system.

The Cheung Kong Center II, developed by CK Asset Holdings Ltd., left, in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg

Fosun unit courts investors days after reports of debt woes at parent firm

Fosun Tourism Group, the leisure and tourism unit of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, is courting both domestic and international investors in a move that is in line with its asset-light strategy.

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Visitors are seen at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing during the Lunar New Year holiday in this file photo from last month. Travel demand remains strong among high wage earners in China, and Fosun Tourism’s hotel and resort assets will be good acquisitions because they can generate stable and long-term returns, according to an industry insider. Photo: EPA-EFE

After years of unchecked infrastructure spending, Guizhou faces a debt reckoning

One of China’s most indebted provinces has brilliant bridges and vast roads, but also one of the nation’s worst per capita income levels, along with debt pressure that could weigh down the region for years.

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Businesswoman’s arrest after seeking arrears from government sparks investigation

Ma Yijiayi, 46, was contracted to build schools and museums, but an indebted government was unable to pay her. Then she found herself detained after refusing their lowball offer.

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Small firms are ‘capillaries’ of China’s economy. But why are they struggling?

Survey finds that shrinking market demand and outstanding billables continue to plague small and micro-sized Chinese firms, leaving struggling owners feeling increasingly lost at sea.

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Newly released findings from a quarterly survey reflect how China’s small and micro-sized businesses continue to struggle. Photo: Xinhua

Liquidator adds jobs as China’s real estate wallows in crisis mode

Global restructuring specialists have increased their headcount as rising defaults by Hong Kong-listed Chinese property developers requires them to enter into restructuring talks with creditors or face liquidation.

Broken furniture outside an abandoned China Evergrande Group complex in Beijing on January 29, 2024. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong banks repossess 100 minibuses due to overdue payments: operators

About 100 minibuses towed away over past three years as banks take actions against owners unable to pay instalments, operator says.

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Explainer | China’s three-legged race to fend off the 4 Ds of an economic apocalypse

The dangers of debt, deflation, de-risking and demographics are at China’s doorstep, threatening growth in its US$17.67 trillion economy for 2024.

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Dealing with debt
Our millennial-focused articles on how to deal with debt, including credit card payments, banking, debt advice, debt support, creditors and money-saving.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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