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As China grapples with a trade war, a four-year property slowdown and lingering weakness in consumer confidence, one typical gauge of corporate distress has been conspicuous by its absence. There has been only one first-time default in China’s $4tn onshore corporate bond market so far this year, according to data from S&P Ratings. That compares with 16 in 2024 as a whole, and multiple defaults by this stage in every year since 2013. Rather than a definitive indication of corporate distress across the economy, the absence of defaults points to…

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 was a watershed moment for Bao Phung. His family’s business A&M Flooring, a Vietnamese producer of premium wooden flooring, had initially struggled to compete against Chinese businesses when it was founded the year before. But after Trump came to power and unleashed a trade war on China, Bao saw A&M’s business flourish as American buyers rushed to source products from elsewhere. Profits rose even as local competition increased. Bao says dozens of Chinese companies have moved to Vietnam to avoid US tariffs, estimating…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A $35bn US semiconductor industry merger is being delayed by Beijing’s antitrust regulator, after Donald Trump tightened chip export controls against China in a move that exacerbated trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has postponed its approval of the proposed deal between Synopsys, a maker of chip design tools, and engineering software developer Ansys, according to two people with knowledge of the…

Chinese carmakers’ price war is putting the industry’s balance sheet under strain, a Financial Times analysis has revealed, as Beijing demands more action to protect suppliers in the world’s largest car market. Current liabilities exceeded current assets at more than a third of publicly listed car manufacturers at the end of last year, according to FT calculations based on their most recent financial reports.  The weakening liquidity picture highlights how China’s leading carmakers are being forced to squeeze suppliers to maintain working capital and fund their fight for market share…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is a faculty member at Yale, formerly chair of Morgan Stanley Asia, and is the author of ‘Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives’ Controversy swirls over the future of Hong Kong. I played a small role in sparking the recent debate, writing 16 months ago: “It pains me to say Hong Kong is over.” Since then, part of the story has become different even…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Western companies say China is demanding sensitive business information to secure rare earths and magnets, raising concerns about potential misuse of data and exposure of trade secrets. Beijing’s commerce ministry is asking for production details and confidential lists of customers as part of its export approval process for critical minerals and magnets, according to multiple companies and official guidelines. China dominates the processing of rare earths and manufacturing of the…