Welcome to China Business News, NEO’s weekly roundup of top business developments as reported by news outlets in China and the region.
This week’s highlights:
- Hong Kong’s third-quarter GDP is forecast to contract 4.5% year-on-year, the worst contraction in more than two years. It is also the third consecutive quarter of contraction for Hong Kong, the biggest drop since the second quarter of 2020. The drop, which was indicated in figures released by Hong Kong’s government earlier this week, was much larger than the 0.8% expected by economists. It was also worse than the 1.3% contraction in the second quarter. A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the downturn was caused by the external environment, including a significant interest rate hike and shipping delays and disruptions between Hong Kong and mainland China. (The United Morning Post)
- The Interbank Market Dealers Association, China Real Estate Association, and China Bond Credit Enhancement Investment Corporation held a seminar to support private real estate enterprises issue debt financing. The seminar was mainly aimed to help first-class companies overcome financing difficulties, meeting liquidity funding needs, and ensuring construction and timely completion of their projects. The measures already taken include promotion of credit-added debt issuance for more than ten real estate companies, involving about 20 billion yuan. (Caixin)
- Earlier this week, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) released an article on its official public website stating that it signed a memorandum of cooperation with the State Bank of Pakistan. According to the PBoC, “the establishment of the RMB clearing arrangement in Pakistan will be conducive to the use of RMB for cross-border transactions by enterprises and financial institutions in China and Pakistan, further promoting bilateral trade and investment.” That makes Pakistan the third country after Laos and Kazakhstan and the first country in South Asia to establish a RMB clearing arrangement in 2022. (Caixin)