Banks urged to focus more on small businesses

CHINA’S city commercial banks should direct more of their lending to small businesses in a bid to boost the private sector and address regional economic disparities, a senior banking regulator said in remarks published late Tuesday.

Wang Zhaoxing, vice-chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said growth in city commercial banks to date has supported the private sector and provided more lending to small enterprises. But it was “the duty” of banks to improve services for small businesses, and they should strive to reduce fees and offer new financial products, Wang said.

Lufax picks banks for HK listing

MAINLAND online wealth management firm Lufax has hired five banks to work on an up to US$5 billion Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), IFR reported.

Lufax, backed by Ping An Insurance, has mandated Citic Securities, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as joint sponsors for the float, according to IFR. Lufax, valued at US$18.5 billion in its last fundraising round in January 2016, could be raising US$3 billion-US$5 billion in the IPO as early as the first half of 2018, IFR reported.

Ford ramps up electric vehicle push

FORD Motor Co. will launch 50 new vehicles in China by 2025, including 15 electrified vehicles, the U.S. firm said at an event in Shanghai on Tuesday, as it looks to rev up sales growth in the market and shift toward cleaner electric cars.

Ford’s sales in China have been weak in recent months, and the company is scrambling to come up with electric and hybrid vehicles to comply with strict Chinese quotas over production and sales for so-called new energy vehicles.

Bond inclusion to see US$286b passive inflows

THE full inclusion of China’s bond index in global bond indexes could bring US$286 billion in passive inflows, Standard Chartered bank said Tuesday.

China’s bond index has an 80 percent chance of being included in one of three regional or global bond indexes in their 2018 reviews, the bank said in a report. The three bond indexes are the Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Global Diversified Index, the World Government Bond Index and the Global Aggregate Bond Index.