By Andrew Hayley XIAN, China (Reuters) – Central Asian heads of state converged in China’s historic city of Xian on Thursday for one-on-ones with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seal pledges of “enduring” friendship, paving the way for a summit expected to result in a regional pact with Beijing. The bilaterals set the stage for…
By Clare Jim and Xie Yu HONG KONG (Reuters) – A shrinking land bank and sluggish property demand are likely to hamper the plans of a growing number of private Chinese developers who have defaulted on their debt and are restructuring it to win breathing room to revive their fortunes. Those hurdles could hinder the…
By Anisha Sircar and Divya Chowdhury (Reuters) – Equity markets in North Asia will outperform the broader region this year, buoyed by China’s reopening and a post-pandemic recovery-led earnings rebound, investors and strategists said. Liquidity from easing monetary and fiscal policy, along with Asian central banks’ early victory on inflation, is expected to defend against…
By Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden and top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday underscored their determination to reach a deal soon to raise the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an economically catastrophic default. After a monthslong standoff, the Democratic president and the speaker of…
By Winni Zhou and Rae Wee SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China’s heavily managed yuan has dropped to multi-month lows and breached the closely watched 7-per-dollar level, and analysts who are predicting more weakness point to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy as being the bigger driver than economic weakness at home. The yuan, also referred to as…
(This May 17 story has been corrected to rectify the name to Friberg, not Friburg, in paragraph 17) By Samuel Shen and Xie Yu SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Smaller consultancy and due-diligence firms in China reckon they stand to gain once business returns to normal after the shock administered by Beijing’s crackdown on firms supplying…
By Leigh Thomas PARIS (Reuters) – France’s unions may have failed to derail President Emmanuel Macron’s push to raise the retirement age, but they are reaping big gains in new members thanks to the months-long battle. Hydroelectric plant worker Jeremy Bensa joined the hardline CGT after he and co-workers in his unit at state power…
By Matt Tracy (Reuters) -Many U.S. regional lenders may have to consider selling off commercial real estate (CRE) loans at a steep discount after breaching key regulatory thresholds for exposure to the troubled sector, according to new data and market sources. Regional banks, the largest lenders to the beleaguered U.S. CRE and construction markets, have…
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Six Pacific countries are at a high risk of debt distress in part due to government spending to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the World Bank said in a report on Thursday. The report, titled Raising Pasifika, said fiscal consolidation was needed in Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of…
BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing’s special envoy noted there was no panacea to the war in Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv earlier this week, but urged all parties to create conditions for peace talks, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. Special envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui visited Kyiv on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he…
