Latest news with #localgovernments
South China Morning Post
15 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's property loans rise to a 2-year high on policy support
China's outstanding property loans rose to a two-year high in June, central bank data showed on Tuesday, following a series of policy measures aimed at stabilising the sector. Advertisement China's outstanding property loans stood at 53.33 trillion yuan (US$7.43 trillion) at the end of June, up 0.4 per cent from a year earlier, the People's Bank of China said in a statement. Growth accelerated from 0.04 per cent in March, reaching the highest level since June 2023, according to central bank data. But growth remained modest, dwarfed by the double-digit increases seen before 2021. Outstanding individual mortgage loans came in at 37.74 trillion yuan, down 0.1 per cent from a year earlier, while outstanding property development loans rose 0.3 per cent to 13.81 trillion yuan, the central bank said. Advertisement Beijing has rolled out a number of rounds of policy measures in recent years to support the property sector, including allowing debt-laden developers to sell housing inventories and undeveloped land to local governments.
New York Times
21 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
China's Problem With Competition: There's Too Much of It
It's the circle of life in China's business world. A promising technology or product emerges. Chinese manufacturers, by the dozens or sometimes the hundreds, storm into that nascent sector. They ramp up production and drive down costs. As the overall market grows, the competition becomes increasingly cutthroat, with rival companies undercutting one another and enduring razor-thin profit margins or even losses in the hope of outlasting the field. Adding to the competitive fervor, China's local governments, each with its own target for economic and job growth, back a homegrown champion and shower it with financial and bureaucratic support. Soon, the whole industry, awash in production capacity, is trapped in a race for survival. While most governments encourage vigorous competition and low prices, China is going in the opposite direction. It is trying to rein in 'involution,' a sociological phrase widely used in China to describe a self-defeating cycle of excessive competition and damaging deflation. Xi Jinping, China's top leader, pledged to take steps to crack down on 'low price and disorderly competition' and eliminate outdated industrial capacity at a high-level economic policy meeting this month. At another recent gathering, on urban development, Mr. Xi questioned whether every province needed to rush into sectors like artificial intelligence and electric cars. 'Price wars and 'involutionary' competition will only encourage 'bad money driving out good money,'' wrote People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. 'Simply 'rolling' prices downward will not result in a winner.' China's efforts to tackle involution are taking on new life as President Trump's tariffs discourage exports to the United States. Other countries are also wary of a flood of inexpensive Chinese goods redirected their way. These unsold goods, combined with a slowing domestic economy, have intensified competition, fueling a deflationary spiral. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
China's New Plan to Encourage More Births Is Underwhelming
Local governments in China have tried mostly in vain to lift the country's shrinking birthrate with perks, cash rewards and housing subsidies. Now, the central government is stepping in. Beijing plans to pay a basic national subsidy of 3,600 yuan (about $500) per child each year until the age of 3, according to a central government decree released recently on local government websites. It is unclear when the subsidies would start.
Japan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Japan insurer to launch policy linked to bear culling
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance said Thursday that it will sell to local governments a policy to cover property damage caused by bullets fired during wild bear extermination. The move comes as the revised wildlife protection and management law, which allows local governments to use firearms at their discretion to cull dangerous wild animals in residential neighborhoods, is set to take effect in September. The law revision is designed to cope with an increase in cases in which wild bears appearing in human habitats attack people and cause damage to properties. The insurance policy will cover up to ¥30 million in compensation local governments pay for damage to buildings, vehicles and other properties from bullets fired to kill bears or other wild animals, including stray rounds, according to Tokio Marine. The insurance premium will be set for each local government according to the number of sightings of bears, boars and other animals. Human injuries from such bullets will not be covered by the policy.
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
How to Know Your Flood Risk
On the heels of devastating flooding in Texas that killed more than 120 people this month, on Monday flash floods inundated subway stations in New York City and closed roads in New Jersey. Extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent and more intense as climate change alters global weather patterns. At the same time, local early warning alerts often rely on multiple systems working together: A timely mobile notification is useful only if cellphones have service to receive it. That's part of the reason flash floods are 'the hardest kind of disaster to prevent' and why only about half the countries in the world have early warning systems in place. So, what should you do to understand your neighborhood's flood risk? I talked to experts about why you may be at more risk than you think, what you can do about it and how local governments are adapting. The Federal Emergency Management Agency publishes flood maps that inform all kinds of decisions, from zoning regulations to building standards. Some local governments have compiled their own easier-to-read flood maps based on the same information. (You can look at the FEMA flood map for your address here.) FEMA maps remain extremely influential and they help determine which homeowners have to buy flood insurance, for example. But experts have argued that they actually underestimate the growing risk of floods. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
