(MENAFN- Asia Times)
Ping An of China, a holding company that mainly deals with insurance, banking and financial services, has quashed rumours it is buying into Manchester United, an English football club. Sheng Ruisheng, a spokesman with the company, said Ping An has not been involved in talks with the club and Ma Mingzhe, CEO, has never owned any of their shares. Previously, an article run by The Sunday Times, reported that Ping An is planning to buy 12% of Manchester United's shares and the CEO of the company already holds 3.46% shares.
Effort to restrict Beijing population density
Temporary management methods on housing and common property rights have been published in Beijing for public viewing, the Economic Information Daily reported. According to the recommendations, the plot ratio for housing within the six rural districts should be lower than 2.8, with each unit smaller than 90 square meters. Restricting plot ratio means controlling population density, which is obtained by dividing the gross floor area of the building by the area of the site on which the building is erected.
The DailyBrief Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox Internet payment, credit to face stricter hurdles
The People's Bank of China said it will include Internet financial businesses, which are large scale and display systematic characteristics, within its macro-prudential management framework and regulate them via the Macro Prudential Assessment (MPA) system, Yicai reported. Analysts believe that third-party digital payment and Internet credit are likely the first to be included and assessed by the new system.
Users of internet financial projects hit 126 million
The number of Chinese netizens who have bought into internet financial projects reached 126 million by June, Yicai reported, citing research from the China Internet Network Information Center. The users rate has increased to 16.8% in June, compared to 13.5% by the end of 2016, adding 27.24 million new users. However, the earnings rate of peer-to-peer (P2P) projects via the internet decreased in the first half of 2017 due to tightened market mobility.
Non-performing loans may see modest growth
Off-balance sheet activities of banking institutions hit a staggering 253.52 trillion yuan, 109.16% of the total assets on the balance sheet, arousing worries from some investors, Xinhua Finance reported, citing a report issued by the China Bank Association. Pan Guangwei, vice chairman of the association, said that non-performing loans may still see a modest increase due to asset quality problems at commercial banks, which are trying to control credit risks.
Commercial bank assets keep growing
The total amount of assets of commercial banks in China is expected to grow at a year-on-year rate of 10% in 2017 and 2018, according to a report from the China Banking Association. The report also points out that the sluggish growth of net interest margins as well as the increasing credit cost will pose challenges to those banks' net profits.
Approval of seven IPOs raises US$416 million
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved seven initial public offerings (IPOs) to raise up to 2.8 billion yuan (US$416.12 million), the Economic Information Daily reported. Three of the approved IPOs are listed on the main board of Shanghai Stock Exchange, two are on the Shenzhen small and medium enterprise board, and the other two are on the start-up ChiNext board. Some 268 IPOs have been approved in 2017, raising 135.5 billion yuan.
Douban eyes overseas expansion
Douban, one of the largest social networking websites that allows users to create content about film, books, music and events in China, is planning to go public overseas, Caixin reported. Yang Bo, CEO of Douban, said the company will launch independent budgets for each of their companies from the second half of this year. The company's last round of financing was in 2011, which totalled US$50 million.
Move to limit prime-time dramas
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) said local satellite television channels should not broadcast dramas with sensitive content or those deemed only for entertainment in prime-time slots, the Shanghai Securities News reported. SARFT encouraged local channels to add programs of public interest, culture, high tech and economy related themes to prime-time, the report added.
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