China

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been spotted in China in a potential sign that Beijing is warming to technology giants again after a crackdown on the sector.

And Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi, which faced a cybersecurity probe from regulators and was forced to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, [signaled it was looking to expand its business](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/16/chinas-didi-plans-expansion-after-beijings-crackdown-ends.html). Ma made comments that [ appeared critical of China's financial regulator](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/24/alibaba-founder-jack-ma-on-ant-group-ipo-pricing.html) prior to the listing cancellation. Ma has been traveling outside of China over the past few months and has been [spotted in Spain](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/alibaba-shares-surge-after-jack-ma-appears-in-europe-new-chip-release.html), Japan and Thailand. Allowing Ma back into the fold could be a recognition from Beijing that it needs private businesses to do that. [ worked to reinvigorate the economy](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/06/china-takes-a-cautious-approach-to-its-economy-in-2023.html). [licenses to foreign games](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/29/china-to-import-45-foreign-video-games-grants-multiple-licenses-to-tencent.html) to be released in China, for example. [slowly giving up control of the fintech firm](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/07/ant-group-founder-jack-ma-to-give-up-control-in-key-revamp-.html). [$2.6 billion antitrust fine in 2021](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/09/china-fines-alibaba-in-anti-monopoly-probe.html). [forced to shelve its massive listing](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/03/ant-group-ipo-in-shanghai-suspended.html) in Hong Kong and Shanghai. [since last year](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/13/billionaire-alibaba-founder-jack-ma-reappears-in-hong-kong-sources.html). [Alibaba](/quotes/BABA/) founder Jack Ma has been spotted in China after spending months abroad in a potential sign that Beijing is warming to technology giants again after a roughly 18-month crackdown on the sector. - Alibaba founder Jack Ma has been spotted in China after spending months abroad in a potential sign that Beijing is warming to technology giants again after a roughly 18-month crackdown on the sector.

China spent $240 billion bailing out 22 developing countries between 2008 and 2021, as more have struggled to repay loans spent building "Belt & Road" ...

[Markets](/markets/) In response, it has called on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to also Rollovers of both kinds of loan were $140 billion. Bridge loans or balance of payments support by Chinese state-owned banks was $70 billion. Nine countries received less than $1 billion. "Beijing is ultimately trying to rescue its own banks.

A new study shows that the People's Bank of China has deployed at least $240 billion since 2000 to assist foreign borrowers.

The country has become a prolific publisher of academic research but fraudulent studies risk serious real-world consequences.

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New study attempts to capture total rescue loans from world's biggest bilateral creditor.

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The latest inspections also come as China tries to mount an economic rebound this year while controlling risks in its $60 trillion financial sector. Growth was ...

The new probe also includes a “look back” at five financial companies that had been previously targeted in a round of anti-graft checks that began in 2021, according to the CCDI. The government in 2013 set a target for state companies to submit 30% of their profits to the public budget. A gauge of the largest government-backed stocks was up slightly in Tuesday trading. Growth was battered last year by Covid Zero and turmoil in the property market, with gross domestic product expanding just 3%. But the campaign “can be interpreted as a move to step up the quality and management” at state-run companies, said Jiang Liangqing, managing director at Zhuhai Greenbamboo Private Fund Management. China has been pushing for state-owned enterprises to improve their efficiency and profitability for years.

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Beijing is emerging as a new heavyweight in providing emergency funds to debt-ridden countries, catching up to the I.M.F. as a lender of last resort.

According to data from China’s Ministry of Commerce, the annual value of completed contracts in Belt and Road Initiative countries fell to $85 billion last year, from a peak of $98 billion in 2019. Such financial moves tether countries more closely to China, since the renminbi is hard to spend except to buy Chinese goods and services. When borrowing renminbi from China’s central bank using so-called swap agreements, the indebted countries then keep the renminbi in their central reserves while spending their dollars to repay foreign debts. Treasury charged almost the same interest rate as China — 4.8 percent — when it made rescue loans to middle-income countries in the 1990s through 2002. It is not unusual for a country to use its own currency in international rescues. China’s emergency lending has gone almost entirely to middle-income countries that owe a lot of money to state-controlled Chinese banks. China has lent $900 billion to 151 lower-income countries around the world, mainly for the construction of highways, bridges, hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure. Dozens of countries are struggling to pay their debts, as a slowing economy and rising interest rates push many nations to the brink. While China is not yet equal to the I.M.F., it is catching up fast, providing $240 billion of emergency financing in recent years. China’s central bank is extending the separate, emergency loans at fairly high interest rates to Laos, Pakistan, Nigeria, Suriname and other financially distressed countries. China charges somewhat high interest rates for emergency credit to middle-income countries in distress, typically 5 percent. The I.M.F.

China has long pursued growth by public spending, even after the payoff has faded. Cities stuck with the bill are still spending — and cutting essential ...

The residents would probably prefer that the government spent on unemployment protection, bus service and welfare instead of high-speed railways and green space. The Chinese government likes to say the country has the longest and fastest high-speed railways in the world. The Shangqiu government brags that there is about 150 square feet of green space for each of the 2.3 million residents in the city’s central municipal area. But Shangqiu is not planning to spend the money on public services. Its college graduates are complaining on social media that it’s difficult to find a job that pays more than $300 a month. In China, where the government owns virtually all the land, the main source of income for many localities has for years come from leasing or selling property to developers. In their struggle to find the money to fund their new projects, and the interest payments on their old ones, cities are cutting public services and benefits. It did say that last year its revenue from land sales was half what the city had targeted, and that it had spent $1 billion on debt service. Many local governments in Hebei Province, which borders Beijing, [failed to pay](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/business/china-natural-gas-shortages.html) heating subsidies for natural gas during the winter, leaving residents to shiver during a record-setting cold wave. “Local government, especially in third- and fourth-tier cities, will still find it difficult to meet many of its budgetary obligations.” A few hours after posting its announcement, the company deleted it, after it had made national headlines and the Shangqiu government had intervened. The city is building its first two airports, three new highways and enough parking space for 20,000 additional slots.

Local governments' direct debt exceeded 120% of revenue in 2022, S&P Global Ratings analysts said, noting that's more than what Beijing has unofficially ...

The city only disclosed the starting bids for what it called "public resources," which totaled 17.3 million yuan. In China's annual government work report released this month, an entire section was dedicated to preventing and defusing major risks — primarily in real estate and local government debt. through local government financing vehicles (LGFVs)," S&P said. S&P and other analysts estimate land sales account for about a quarter of local governments' total revenue. International Monetary Fund data show China's explicit local government debt nearly doubled over five years to the equivalent of $5.14 trillion — or 35.34 trillion yuan — last year. They don't expect local governments to fall back on off-balance sheet debt. "Transfers to local governments accounted for about 60% of the increase in the central government deficit," S&P analysts said in a separate report last week. A few local governments are trying other ways to generate extra income — at the cost of fair market access for bike-sharing companies. [according to a city release.](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nOGdQA9qATNq7Gdzp_Aq_w__;!!PIZeeW5wscynRQ!vmuYbY9nOKupwPi2DkeUwdpAseG1KpQYCNwFie2ov91rl4QpnrI27vwZT5OUlUUsoyi372EITilP0lM$) The two companies did not respond to requests for comment. China's central government increased its transfers to local governments by a whopping 17.1% in 2022, and plans to boost support by another 3.6% this year with 10.06 trillion yuan in transfers, according to the Ministry of Finance. - A few local governments are trying other ways to generate extra income — at the cost of fair market access for bike-sharing businesses. - In the annual government work report released this month, an entire section was dedicated to preventing and defusing major risks in real estate and local government debt.

China's top anti-corruption agency will inspect dozens of state-owned companies from China Investment Corp. to PetroChina Co., suggesting the government may ...