Livi Bank, a virtual bank backed by the Bank of China (Hong Kong), will continue to expand lending to SMEs as it views the segment as a future growth engine after strong growth this year, CEO David Sun says.

High-net-worth individuals in Shanghai are seeking refuge in overseas property investments as they flee a slump in mainland China’s real estate sector, creating price pressure in both markets.

China’s securities regulator has published draft rules aimed at slashing trading commissions for mutual funds and addressing the conflict of interest between the securities trading and fund sales businesses of brokerages, the latest reform to the US$3.8 trillion mutual fund industry.

Thirty local brokerages have closed down this year, after a record 49 shut shop in 2022, as the Hong Kong stock market heads into its fourth year of declines, the longest losing streak in its history.

The government is also suspending its participation in the multilateral organisation indefinitely, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says.

TT Chat operator Quwan Holding will merge with special-purpose acquisition company Vision Deal HK Acquisition, in the second such deal in the city.

Louis-Vincent Gave, founding partner and CEO at research firm Gavekal, says China is deemed uninvestible for some Western investors despite Beijing’s efforts to attract increased overseas capital.

‘Hyperlocality’ and open dialogue between regulators, businesses and investors, can help retain the vibrancy of Asia’s start-up ecosystem, industry leaders said at the FII Priority conference in Hong Kong.

A unit of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has injected fresh capital into eWTP Arabia Capital, a Riyadh-based venture firm focused on easing Chinese business expansion into the Middle East.

Debt-stricken Chinese property developer CIFI Holding Group makes another loss-making asset sale, as the company grapples with a liquidity crunch and seeks to ‘survive and sustain under the crisis’.

China will establish an auto research institute, the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) in Thailand, the fourth such facility in the world, following those set up in Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

The withdrawal comes two weeks into the tenure of CEO Richard Teng, who previously led the regulator at Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone.

The lack of funding over the past few months has forced businesses to cut costs and find quicker paths towards achieving profits, but parts of Asia are now experiencing a boom.

Economists generally expect that the US’ most aggressive rate-rising cycle in 40 years will end soon, and that any subsequent rate-cut cycle would lead to lower financing costs for businesses – a positive for trade flows.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, has urged Shanghai to further simplify customs procedures and liberalise financial markets to spur cross-border cargo and capital flows in the Lingang free-trade zone.

Innovations in synthetic biology and alternative materials can improve the lives and livelihoods of many people, says Horizons Ventures co-founder Solina Chau.

Zhou also faces deprivation of political rights for committing fundraising fraud and illegally taking savings from the general public.

The changing geopolitical landscape and Asia’s ascent on the global stage are driving regional economies to collaborate more closely, leaders said at the first FII conference to be held in Hong Kong.

Lowering the city’s credit outlook to negative from stable over issues with mainland China’s economy is part of US-led smear campaign, Eric Chan says.

Hong Kong is ideally placed to serve as a bridge between China and the Middle East, with the city’s capital market and government’s focus on tech and innovation acting as catalysts, FII conference participants say.

China’s dollar-denominated corporate high-yield bonds have lost 22 per cent this year, after a 33 per cent slump in each of the past two years. Defaults by developers, once the pillar of the Asian market, are likely to persist.

Government says its disagrees with changes based on Hong Kong’s tight ties with the mainland and that national security law put an end to 2019 chaos.

Career growth and long-term prospects are main drivers, Institute for Monetary and Financial Research says, but city must put in work to increase attractiveness.

In a departure from the West’s view on the role of finance, China has made the case for its own perspective on the industry, primarily as a tool for achieving policy goals and a buttress for weak links in the economy.

The proposed change also aims to lower management fees to ‘maintain and increase’ the value of the fund, which supports China’s welfare system.

Taiwan’s economic and financial decoupling from China has deepened with the near-collapse of what was once the world’s largest Chinese bond exchange-traded fund market.