Chinese state-owned banks Bank of China and ICBC hold a crucial role in the future of Thames Water, as part of a group of lenders involved in a stand-off over debt at the parent company of Britain’s largest water company

New story from Team FT 👇🏻

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Xi Jinping has won praise for calling time on unsustainable property and infrastructure spending, but trading partners now fear a flood of cheap exports. Will his manufacturing plan be enough to rescue China’s economy? ft.com/content/ae5179… via Financial Times w Cheng Leng

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Good FT article: 'Beijing has ordered a dozen highly indebted areas, many of them less-developed and far from the coast, to curb infrastructure spending as it tries to unwind a decade-long investment binge many believe is unsustainable.'

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Martin Wolf: “China needs a new macroeconomic strategy. This is not about another ‘stimulus’. It is about changing the distribution of income and spending. The leadership does not want to do this. But events will force its hand in the end.”

ft.com/content/cc4079… via @ft

“The financier turning China’s noodle joints and karaoke bars into a data goldmine”

Beyond fascinating piece from Kaye Wiggins, Cheng Leng & Hudson Lockett IV 康河信 on the former head of the Hong Kong stock exchange who is securitising small business revenues ft.com/content/f74904…

Chinese provinces pumped a record Rmb218.3bn ($31bn) of capital into fragile regional banks last year using special-purpose bonds, in a sign of concern at the risks within one of the world’s most important financial systems on.ft.com/3TNJ2aS

For decades China-watchers labelled the country’s massive SOEs as 'dinosaurs'. New research suggests they are now helping the world's biggest coal user make a historic green turn... via Financial Times ft.com/content/7c9dcd…

Zero-Covid: China’s year of forgetting on.ft.com/3RF6C6L

A $33bn bet, unwound: Nearly 90% of the foreign money that flowed into China’s stock market in 2023 has already left, spurred by mounting doubts among global investors that Beijing will take action to boost flagging growth. Full story Financial Times w/ cheng leng on.ft.com/4aErT9e

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Recently, as this FT article notes, the influence of the PBoC on economic policymaking seems to have declined. This became particularly noticeable in March when the PBoC was subordinated to the Central Financial Commission.

ft.com/content/b809c7… via @ft

DATA POINT: It's a banner day for Beijing as the renminbi has topped the yen’s share of global payment transactions for the first time in two years and surpassed the euro to take second place in global trade finance. Full Financial Times story w/Cheng Leng on.ft.com/4avVBxd

Soon after joining HKEX, JPMorgan alum Nicolas Aguzin pitched awarding “tokens” to listcos with diverse boards—a move insiders say gave new meaning to the phrase “token women”. Get the full scoop on the departing CEO’s tenure from myself & Kaye Wiggins: on.ft.com/47aYRes

My long read on Hong Kong’s deep “existential crisis”:

How the territory’s growing reliance on China has turned into a distinctly mixed blessing — with growing concerns over how much longer hallmarks of its own system can endure

on.ft.com/48lbxAB

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'Chinese investors are buying up the high-yielding dollar bonds of the country’s cash-strapped local governments, spurred on by a belief in Beijing’s implicit guarantee of the debt and a hunt for returns.'

This is a highly self-reinforcing process.

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How much of a push will policymakers give China's economy going into the new year? With Cheng Leng, Andy Lin 林佳賢 and Sun Yu Investors hope for road map for China’s economy ft.com/content/21255a… via @ft

Evergrande creditors make last push to avert liquidation order on.ft.com/3N6lidx

Hong Kong urged to target listings from Middle Eastern companies on.ft.com/3GjbdX2