Day: September 2, 2025

Margin buying of Chinese stocks sets record at US$320 billion

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Mainland stock traders boosted their leveraged bets to an all-time high, adding fuel to a liquidity-driven rally that catapulted a key benchmark to its highest point in a decade last month. Advertisement The outstanding value of the shares bought with borrowed money rose to 2.28 trillion yuan (US$319.2 billion) on the mainland’s exchanges on Monday, according to data from China Securities Finance and Bloomberg. That surpassed the previous high of 2.27 trillion yuan set on June 18, just before a quick boom-to-bust cycle. The record-breaking margin trade indicates a significant…

Suntory chair Niinami steps down after police probe

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Japanese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Takeshi Niinami, one of Japan’s most high-profile and outspoken executives, has resigned as the head of the global drinks group Suntory. Suntory said on Tuesday that Niinami, its chair and chief executive who has run the group since 2014, had resigned after a search of his home as part of an ongoing police investigation related to suspected illegal supplements. Niinami oversaw Suntory’s integration of US whisky maker Beam…

China’s shipping firms lean on alliances to ride out US port fee storm

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Chinese shipping companies are working with global partners to reduce their US exposure and explore more regional market opportunities, as the industry braces for the introduction of steep new US port fees in October. Advertisement “The container shipping industry is undergoing an unprecedented historical evolution,” Cosco Shipping Holdings, the Shanghai and Hong Kong listed arm of Chinese shipping conglomerate Cosco Shipping Group, said in its interim report released last week. Though it did not refer to the US port fees directly, the shipping giant noted that it was focusing on…

Russia’s Putin hails ‘unprecedented’ ties with China as talks begin

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have kicked off bilateral talks in Beijing, on the eve of a massive military parade in the Chinese capital. Putin hailed relations between both countries saying they were on an “unprecedented level”, adding that their “close communication reflects the strategic nature of Russian-Chinese ties.” “Dear friend, both I and the entire Russian delegation are pleased to meet once again with our Chinese friends and colleagues,” Putin told Xi, according to a video published on the Kremlin’s official Telegram messaging app.…

Developing countries swap out of dollar debt to cut borrowing costs

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Developing countries are moving out of dollar debts and turning to currencies with rock bottom interest rates such as the Chinese renminbi and Swiss franc. The shift, embarked upon by indebted countries including Kenya, Sri Lanka and Panama, reflects the higher rates set by the US Federal Reserve, which have angered President Donald Trump as well as increasing other countries’ debt servicing costs. “The high level of interest rates and a steep US Treasury yield curve . . . has made USD financing more onerous for [developing] countries, even with relatively low spreads…