May 16 - Bloomberg (Stephanie Tong): "China's four biggest banks reported almost zero net new lending in the two weeks ended May 13, Shanghai Securities News reported... Two of the four lenders increased outstanding loans by less than 20 billion yuan ($3.16bn), while the others posted drops as repayments exceeded new credit... Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp., Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd. account for about half of the loans in China... Deposits at the four lenders fell by about 200 billion yuan in early May, according to the newspaper. Yuan deposits at all Chinese banks decreased by 808 billion yuan in April from a year earlier, while new lending was 681.8 billion yuan, down from 1.01 trillion yuan in March..."
May 17 - Bloomberg: "Chinese companies have accumulated 'alarming levels' of debt and will have difficulty with payments in an economic downturn, Xinhua News Agency said, citing Li Yang, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The debt-to-asset ratio of Chinese companies is about 105.4%, the highest among 20 countries examined in yearlong study by Li's team of borrowing by China's government, corporations and individuals, Xinhua reported."
May 17 - Bloomberg: "China ZhengTong Auto Services Holdings Ltd. and Baoxin Auto Group Ltd., Chinese luxury auto dealers, canceled their debut sales of dollar-denominated bonds as yields on Chinese debt in the U.S. currency surged the most since November. The companies, which sell cars made by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Tata Motors Ltd.'s Land Rover and Jaguar, cited 'market conditions' for the delay... Yields on Chinese securities are headed for the biggest weekly increase since the period ending Nov. 25..."
May 18 - Bloomberg: "Chinese dealers are struggling with the rising number of unsold cars that's threatening to deepen price cuts, according to the nation's biggest automobile dealers' association. Dealerships for Honda Motor Co., Chery Automobile Co., BYD Co. and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. carried more than 45 days of inventory as of the end of April, exceeding the threshold that foreshadows debilitating price cuts, Su Hui, vice president of the auto market division at the state-backed China Automobile Dealers Association, said..."
May 17 - Bloomberg (Michelle Wiese Bockmann): "China Shipbuilding Industry Corp., a state-controlled company with seven yards, said domestic vessel owners must renew their fleets to prevent new orders from slumping to a seven-year low. A decline in overseas business, falling ship prices and rising labor costs are 'severely challenging,' Han Guang, deputy head of the company's Information Research Centre, said... Exports accounted for 82% of ships built and delivered last year, he said. 'Domestic shipowners need to increase and optimize fleet structure,' Han said. While the industry has 'enormous room for further growth,' 30% of yards have received no new business since the end of 2010, he said."
May 17 - Bloomberg (Joshua Fellman): "China will 'seriously handle' health-care corruption, including bribery in the purchase of drugs and medical devices and in bidding for projects, the official Xinhua News Agency said..."
May 17 - Bloomberg (Kelvin Wong): "Mainland Chinese investors accounted for a smaller percentage of Hong Kong's new home sales for a second quarter as the nation's banks tightened lending while local buyers returned to the market, Midland Holdings Ltd. said. Mainland purchasers made up 36.8% of all new home sales by value in the first quarter... The figure reached 53.9% in the third quarter last year, Midland said."
