Forex reserves fall in April

CHINA’S foreign exchange reserves fell in April as prices of global financial assets declined significantly amid a strengthening U.S. dollar, official data showed Saturday.

China’s forex holdings amounted to US$3.1197 trillion at the end of April, down US$68.3 billion, or 2.14%, from the end of March, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed. “China continued to see cross-border capital net inflows in April, and the supply and demand of domestic foreign exchange market maintained balanced,” said Wang Chunying, the administration’s deputy head.

Big-data online expo slated for May 26

THE China International Big Data Industry Expo 2022 is scheduled to take place online May 26, the event organizers said Saturday.

For the past seven years, the event has been hosted by the city of Guiyang in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will take the form of a cloud conference this year, the organizers said. The expo serves as a vital platform for exchanges within the industry, and is a driving force for the global development of big data.

Bond rules published to reduce default risks

CHINA has published rules that allow companies to sell new debt instruments in the interbank market to replace previously issued bonds, part of efforts to help firms reduce default risks.

The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors said in a statement last week that the move is aimed at helping companies better manage their debts and protect investors’ interests. It also published rules regulating the disposal of defaulted bonds. Bond replacement, which does not involve cash, could help companies avoid default on maturing bonds, and skips the process of debt payment, compared with traditional bond refinancing. Firms seeking bond replacement should solicit approval from bondholders, according to the rules.

PetroChina sees growth in China’s fuel demand

CHINA’S fuel demand is expected to trend higher in 2022 despite a recent COVID-19 surge, with the economy forecast to expand at a reasonable rate, a senior official of PetroChina said Friday.

“For the whole year of 2022, China’s economic growth will remain in a reasonable range, so we expect demand of refined oil products to stay higher than last year,” Wang Hua, a finance director of PetroChina, told a briefing.