Chinese tycoon Chen Hongtian is in discussions with lenders to retrieve assets worth HK$10 billion (US$1.27 billion) after a ‘short-term liquidity issue’ forced him to miss mortgage payments.

Chinese lenders largely shrugged off the recent banking crisis in developed markets, gaining in value to take the top five spots in a league table of Asia-Pacific banks ranked by market capitalisation.

Major banks have reported declining net interest margins, a crucial measure of their profitability, while the struggling property market portends slower growth, if not an outright contraction, in new mortgage applications.

Chen Hongtian’s company, Cheung Kei Group, cites defaults on ‘several big-ticket accounts receivable’ and ‘abnormal obstacles’ for loss of control over assets including house on The Peak.

Chen was the talk of the town in Hong Kong for purchasing the house on The Peak for a record price of HK$2.1 billion in 2016.

The share prices of Chinese securities firms have slumped ahead of their earnings announcements for 2022 amid expectations of record losses.

After the PBOC and the CBIRC officially confirmed a 16-point rescue plan for the real estate sector on Wednesday, banks have been rushing to offer financing support for several struggling companies.

ICBC, the world’s largest bank by assets, sees more challenges ahead in staving off the impact of China’s strict zero-Covid measures on its loan quality.

Two Chinese state-owned banks said this week that their first-half earnings were largely unhurt by the country’s Covid-19 lockdown measures, but more challenges are in store.

Dividend payments by onshore Chinese companies likely to exceed 1 trillion yuan for financial year 2021 for the first time, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Leading state-controlled banks are likely to report earnings growth of between 8 and 15 per cent for 2021, according to analysts’ estimates.

Twelve Hong Kong banks, including note-issuing lenders HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong), will suspend all banking services on Saturdays starting this week and the next until further notice.

Chinese banks exited the third quarter with marginal improvement in bad loan ratios. Lending to developers may still become troublesome as Evergrande and distressed peers struggle to repay.

Postal Savings Bank of China reported the highest first-half profit among lenders that published results on Friday. Bocom president optimistic about full-year outlook.

Contingency planning has been a requirement for China’s biggest financial institutions for a decade now.

China’s US$13.6 billion National Green Development Fund takes a step closer towards deploying capital to fund climate-friendly projects.

Analysts say a strong rebound in banks’ performance in fourth quarter probably help Chinese banks avert full-year earning drops.

Chinese banks reported green shoots of retail loans business recovery, as credit card borrowers’ repayment ability improved amid rebounding economy.

Nowhere is the problem more serious than in Guangzhou, where 33,000 foreclosures were reported in a city whose economy shrank 2.7 per cent last year, more than the national average of 1.6 per cent.

China already boasts more digital mobile payment users than anywhere else on earth, in a US$49 trillion market almost 500 times bigger than in the United States. The People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang wants to hasten the digital transformation of China’s currency and economy.

As the US-China tensions escalate, companies are struggling to remain apolitical on the controversial national security law. Investors look to its implementation and potential ESG pitfalls.

Several bank officials say the crude oil derivative products effectively overstepped regulations that bar the country’s lenders from operating as commodities futures brokerages.

Several state-owned lenders have paused the sale of similar financial products for their retail customers, exposing the deficiencies in China’s 22.2 trillion yuan wealth management industry, where regulations and investor protection measures fail to keep up with a rapidly growing industry.

Bank of China may shoulder part of US$1 billion in losses suffered by its retail clients in an investment product linked to oil prices amid public outcry.

China’s biggest lenders new investment in products tied to commodities futures after the collapse of oil prices burned investors at home and abroad.

More Chinese credit card borrowers may fall behind on repayments as coronavirus pandemic crushes income.

Investors are being rattled because of a rarely used but very important detail in the WTI contract: anyone holding futures after they expire could be forced to take delivery of crude in the US oil hub of Cushing, Oklahoma. For the May contract, that expiration happened Tuesday night.

Chinese banks are bracing for an unprecedented drop in profits this year as they grapple with the fallout of Covid-19.

Bank of Communication expects non-performing loan level this year to ‘rebound’ from 2019, as coronavirus hit borrowers’ financial health