Business News
Latest business news and updates
Total: 2071
PBOC Drops Reserve Requirement for FX Forwards to Zero — A Nudge Toward Broader Hedging and RMB Stability
The People’s Bank of China will cut the foreign-exchange risk reserve requirement for forward FX sales from 20% to zero from 2 March 2026 to promote market development and corporate hedging. The move lowers banks’ capital costs for offering forwards, aims to deepen the hedging market and reduce balance-sheet currency risk, but carries risks of larger speculative forward positions if not paired with prudent risk controls.
China’s Local Governments Rapidly Tap Bond Markets to Fund Projects and Refinance Hidden Debt
Chinese local governments have issued more than RMB 2 trillion in bonds by late February as Beijing leans on fiscal tools to spur infrastructure and social projects and to replace implicit local liabilities. About half of the issuance is refinancing aimed at swapping hidden debt into formal bonds, while new special‑purpose bonds are being prioritised for on‑the‑ground investment.
Shanghai Raises Home Provident Fund Loans to a Nationwide High — A Boost for Upgrading Buyers
Shanghai has raised its housing provident fund loan ceiling for first‑time buyers from RMB 1.6 million to RMB 2.4 million, with additional top‑ups for multi‑child families and purchases of certified green buildings, allowing a maximum loan of RMB 3.24 million. The policy is part of broader national moves to deploy large provident‑fund balances to support housing demand, encourage upgrades and align housing policy with environmental and demographic goals.
Beijing Forces Delivery Apps to Clean Up ‘Ghost’ Takeaways: New Rules Make Platforms the Gatekeepers
China will require food-delivery platforms to perform substantive licence checks, verify merchant addresses at least every six months, and display vendor credentials publicly, with new rules taking effect June 1. The measures, aimed at eliminating “ghost” takeout operators, embed platforms in the e-commerce regulatory framework and impose steeper fines to strengthen food-safety oversight.
German Chancellor’s Trade Mission Yields Dozens of China Deals as Robotics Showcase Signals Tech Thaw
German Chancellor Mertz’s visit to China produced more than a dozen commercial deals across major industrial sectors, accompanied by a high-profile stop at robotics firm Yushu Technology in Hangzhou. The agreements reflect ongoing commercial interdependence between Germany and China, even as governments grapple with strategic risks around technology transfer and supply-chain security.
China’s Record Spring Festival: 5.96 Billion Trips and a New Model of Cultural Consumption
China’s nine‑day Spring Festival generated historic travel and spending—5.96 billion domestic trips and 8.03 trillion yuan—highlighting a rapid reshaping of tourism around immersive cultural experiences, film and media tie‑ins, and stronger inbound flows. The holiday demonstrated tourism’s growing economic and soft‑power role, even as it exposes challenges in sustainability and regional inequality.
RMB Strengthens to Three-Year High as Investors Reallocate Toward China
The renminbi has rallied to its strongest levels since April 2023, with onshore and offshore rates testing the mid‑6.80s amid large exporter foreign‑exchange conversions and softer dollar dynamics. Analysts view the move as broadly positive for international investor appetite toward Chinese assets, but caution that policymakers must manage the pace to avoid damaging export competitiveness.
Blowout Quarter, Tepid Market: Nvidia’s Strong Results Undercut by AI‑Monetisation Fears and an Uncertain OpenAI Pact
Nvidia posted a stellar quarter driven by its data‑centre GPUs and issued an aggressive revenue guide, yet the stock fell over 5% as investors fretted about the sustainability of AI capex, lofty valuations and uncertainty around a large potential OpenAI investment. The rout hit other chip names too, reflecting concern about demand sensitivity to hyperscaler spending and a market shift from training to inference workloads.
China’s Fuling Zhacai Sees Rapid CEO Turnover as Growth Stalls and M&A Falls Apart
Fuling Zhacai has replaced its CEO for the second time within five months as weak sales growth and declining volumes in its core pickled-mustard business pile pressure on the company. A planned acquisition to diversify revenue was abandoned after parties failed to agree on key terms, leaving strategic questions about how the firm will escape its growth bottleneck.
China Tightens Rules at Home and Abroad: From Sanya Crackdown to Soaring Chip Costs
China combined diplomatic signalling and domestic regulatory tightening this week, imposing export controls on Japanese firms and pursuing stricter auditing rules while markets absorbed mixed trading and investors faced price and governance shocks. Sharp rises in memory-chip prices are prompting major smartphone brands to plan substantial price increases, and Hainan authorities moved decisively to penalise a Sanya homestay for contract breaches.
Mixed US Market Open Highlights AI Winners and China Tech Weakness — Nvidia Slips, Baidu Sinks
US markets opened mixed, with the Nasdaq down modestly and the Dow higher. Nvidia’s stock dipped despite beating fourth-quarter expectations, while Baidu fell sharply after reporting a year-on-year revenue decline for fiscal 2025, underscoring investor focus on guidance and the uneven health of tech-driven growth.
From Foil to Fiber: Listed Dongyangguang Moves to Fold a RMB 280bn Data‑centre Asset into Its Public Shell
Dongyangguang has moved to acquire control of the vehicle that holds Qinhuai Data’s China business — a RMB 280 billion asset the group helped buy in 2025 — by issuing shares and raising funds. The transaction would bring a top‑tier data‑centre operator into the listed company but raises questions about financing, leverage and governance given Dongyangguang’s heavy borrowings and high shareholder pledge ratios.