China wants to build relations with dealmaker and US president-elect Donald Trump, so says Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a former investment banker who briefs Chinese officials on world affairs, in our Q&A. He believes China’s leadership also looks favorably on Trump’s reputation as a dealmaker and isn’t interested in filling a regional trade vacuum if Trump scraps Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership. But it remains to be seen what China will actually do.
Are you ready to sing in public in Shanghai? Then here’s your chance if you are in the city in the next few months with Sing for Her – an art installation inviting visitors to sing with migrant workers through a huge megaphone. It is the inspiration of Beijing-born, Hong Kong-based artist Zheng Bo and part of the 11th Shanghai Biennale that opened on November 11.
The chop is on the way with banks bracing for a jump in non-performing steel sector loans next year. Much of China’s steel production capacity, which is earmarked for the chop as part of Beijing’s multi-year initiative to streamline the fragmented sector, was originally paid for with bank loans secured by using the equipment as collateral. In many cases these loans have not yet been repaid. At present there is no clear consensus from Beijing on the treatment of these equipment-backed loans.
Shop till you drop is the motto at any sales day, but today’s average consumer is clicking rather than walking to the store. Chinese customers are clicking till they get RSI and the numbers prove it – Singles Day sales in China hit 91.2 billion yuan (US$13.4 billion) at around 3pm on Friday. It breaks the record for the total volume of sales generated within the same day last year – US$13.3 billion, Alibaba said. And with nine hours to go, the e-commerce giant has every chance to set a new global record.
China’s banks lent out a net total of 651.3 billion yuan in new loans in October, with new mid- to long-term household loans reaching 489.1 billion yuan. The China Banking Regulatory Commission asked banks and trusts in 16 cities to review their lending. The cities are where real estate prices have risen quickly to conduct checks, including first-tier hubs like Beijing and Shenzhen. The move aims to control growth in property lending.