Economy/Resources

Six years into a deep housing slump, some of China’s best-known real estate figures are facing court-imposed restrictions over unpaid debts.

Feng Lun, a co-founder of Wantong who started a property investment firm with Pan Shiyi in 1991, was recently banned from “high consumption.” The order stems from a private lending dispute involving Sanya Wantong Health Development Management, which failed to pay by the court’s deadline. As the company’s legal representative, Feng cannot fly, stay in star-rated hotels or buy real estate. He said on Weibo on Sept. 18 that the loan was arranged by a minority shareholder who used the seals of two controlled companies without approval from any company body.

Vanke was hit with a similar order on September 13 by a court in Changsha, Hunan Province, in a case involving about 4.98 million yuan ($736,000). Yu Liang, who retired as chairman eight months ago, is restricted because he is listed as the legal representative in the case file. He cannot travel by certain transport, stay in hotels, buy property or send his children to expensive private schools.

Country Garden peer Guangzhou R&F Properties disclosed on September 10 that it and chairman Li Sze Lim were newly restricted by a Guangzhou court. The company was ordered to pay roughly 429 million yuan ($63.4 million) in a financial loan dispute and reportedly failed to pay any of it.

Many developers have hit credit crises amid financing difficulties and weak sales. The worst fate has befallen Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin, once China’s richest man. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on August 20 on multiple charges, leaving behind 2.4 trillion yuan ($355 billion) in debt and more than 1.6 million unfinished homes, in what is regarded as the world’s largest property developer debt crisis.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 20, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609200173.aspx

People’s Daily reports that China’s semiconductor industry is experiencing rapid growth. In July, integrated-circuit output by large industrial firms reached 53 billion chips, equivalent to about 1.7 billion chips per day. During the first seven months of 2026, integrated-circuit exports reached $216 billion, up 99.5 percent year-on-year and already exceeding the full-year 2025 total of $201.9 billion.

The article attributes the growth to strong global demand, China’s large domestic market, and its relatively complete semiconductor supply chain. China’s capacity for mature-process chips of 28nm and above now accounts for nearly 30 percent of global capacity.

The article also identifies four major challenges:

• Technology bottlenecks: High-end chips remain subject to foreign technology restrictions, while domestic production of key materials and semiconductor equipment remains insufficient, creating supply-chain vulnerabilities.
• Unbalanced industrial structure: Capacity growth is concentrated in memory chips and mature processes, with risks of overcapacity and duplication in some lower-end segments, while high-end chip capacity remains insufficient.
• Talent and ecosystem gaps: The industry faces shortages of chip architects, AI-chip specialists, and advanced-process integration experts. Coordination among industry, universities, research institutions, and end users remains underdeveloped.
• Growing international competition: Intensifying U.S. technology restrictions and restructuring of the global semiconductor industry create uncertainty over whether China can sustain its rapid export growth.

Source: People’s Daily, September 7, 2026
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0907/c1004-40793493.html

A Chinese government procurement policy on domestic products took effect on January 1, providing preferential treatment to products manufactured in China. Under the policy, domestically produced products can receive a 20 percent price deduction during procurement evaluations when competing with imported products. The Ministry of Finance will establish, within five years, requirements for the proportion of domestically produced components and, for certain products, key components and production processes that must be met for a product to qualify as domestically produced.

In theory, foreign companies can qualify for the domestic-product preference if they manufacture in China and meet the requirements. How the policy will work in practice remains to be seen.

According to The Epoch Times, a source at a public hospital in Hubei said the hospital had received internal instructions to prioritize domestic medical-equipment suppliers and to verify product specifications, registration certificates, country of origin, and budgets during procurement. A source at a Beijing hospital said many Chinese medical-equipment manufacturers are struggling or have even gone bankrupt because of tight medical-insurance funds. As a result, hospitals have received government instructions to purchase domestic products, even though foreign medical equipment is generally considered to be of good quality and offers a wider range of products.

The report said some foreign medical-equipment companies have reduced or withdrawn their operations in China in recent years. A representative of a U.S. medical-equipment company in Guangdong said the company’s workforce in China had fallen from more than 150 employees at its peak to just three, all working remotely without an office.

Source: Epoch Times, September 8, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/8/n14844701.htm

Universities across China are curbing spending after cuts to their budgets. Several have issued notices urging staff to practice thrift and “live tight lives,” according to mainland outlets The Paper and Sina.

Peking University published its implementation measures on the 11th, reportedly barring units from using public funds for tourism disguised as training. The rules prohibit holding meetings at 21 named scenic areas, including Badaling–Ming Tombs, the Chengde Mountain Resort’s outer temples, Mount Wutai, Taihu Lake, Putuo Mountain, Huangshan, Jiuhua Mountain, Guilin’s Li River, Sanya’s tropical coastline and Jiuzhaigou–Huanglong.

Anhui Jianzhu University issued its own rules in August. Reimbursement of research-related meals now requires a registration form, invoice, menu and corporate card record. Cigarettes, alcohol, expensive dishes and playing cards, which are unrelated to research, cannot be claimed.

Beijing Forestry University said on the 9th that money should be spent “where it should be spent.” Staff are asked to buy lower-priced airfares first, keep the number and duration of research and business trips to a minimum, and avoid travel over statutory holidays.

Shanxi University of Finance and Trade Vocational and Technical College held a meeting the same day on budget controls. It vowed to curb frequent budget adjustments, put special government funds first in payments, and end spending for its own sake. Hosting colleagues from within the same city is barred. Travel costs above the standard will not be reimbursed. Meetings may not offer tea-break fruit, and display boards may not use costly production methods. The college also told relevant departments to handle students’ fee-related concerns properly and explain the policy to them.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 17, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609170103.aspx

Forty-five Chinese steel conglomerates — including China Baowu, Ansteel, HBIS, and Shougang — have jointly issued an initiative through the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) urging the industry to rein in production and reduce inventories, citing a market plagued by “strong supply, weak demand, low prices, and thin profits.”

According to a report by The Paper, CISA’s initiative outlines three measures: strictly enforcing output controls, maintaining voluntary production restraint to cut stockpiles, and fully utilizing industry price-monitoring personnel. The report notes that all three measures target the same underlying problem — the need for supply-side restraint.

Citing data from Chinese financial data provider Wind, the report states that 26 A-share-listed steel companies posted combined revenue of roughly RMB 555.7 billion (approximately US$78.3 billion) in the first half of the year, yet their combined net profit attributable to parent companies came to less than RMB 7 billion (about US$990 million). Of these, 11 companies posted losses, and seven earned less than RMB 300 million (about US$42 million) each.

CISA’s own figures show that major surveyed steel enterprises recorded total profit of RMB 58.4 billion (about US$8.2 billion) in the first half, down 5.5 percent year-on-year. Profit from core steelmaking operations alone fell 40 percent to just RMB 16.7 billion (about US$2.4 billion), with a sales profit margin of only 0.77 percent.

The initiative states that China’s steel industry has shifted from a growth phase into one of contraction and optimization. It says that since 2026, domestic steel demand has continued weakening while inventories remain elevated, driving prices down and putting significant pressure on producers’ operations.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 15, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609150360.aspx