China’s debt situation has been exaggerated by some international institutions and its debt default risk is under control and will not pose systemic threats, according to Ruan Jianhong, Deputy Director of the Financial Survey and Statistics Department at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said China’s overall debt was as high as 254.8% of GDP at the end of last year, but Ruan said the bank has included some factors that should not have been taken into account, thus increasing its estimate. Whatever method is used, China’s total debt load is still lower than that of some major world economies, Ruan said. Wang Kebing, Deputy Director of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance, said the government still has room to raise debt levels. This would help the private sector to lower its leverage, which has become the major driving force for debt piling up in recent years. Wang said the government, whose leverage is estimated to be about 39.4% of GDP, will continue to adopt a pro-active fiscal policy and increase leverage in stages. Sun Xuegong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said China will help enterprises with short-term financial difficulties to conduct debt restructuring, excluding however “zombie enterprises” that waste resources. In the past three years, banks have written off CNY2 trillion in bad loans, the equivalent of 1.75% of bank lending, Wang Shengbang, a senior official at the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said, as reported by the China Daily.

Chinese enterprises may face challenges in using Britain as a gateway to expand their businesses in other European countries after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, according to an insider.
 Andrew Yuan, Managing Director of Hytera Communications UK, said Chinese companies in Britain are likely to see their businesses hurt by the decision, as many of them use their UK headquarters to cover business in other EU countries. “Take my company as an example. About 45% of our revenue last year came from European countries outside the UK. I am worried that about one-third of our businesses may be dampened if the UK actually leaves the EU.” Hytera, a company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, specializes in designing and manufacturing mobile radio communications equipment. It set up a representative office in the UK in 2005, which has evolved into a headquarters covering markets in western and northern Europe. Zeng Gang, Senior Researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Finance and Banking, said the Brexit would hit the British pound, causing a negative impact on pound-related assets in Britain. “Chinese companies owning assets in Britain should readjust their strategies and look to diversify their investment in other European countries if they plan to expand their influence in Europe,” he said. The United Kingdom, following the example of Switzerland and Norway, is expected to enter into free trade agreement (FTA) talks with China after withdrawing from the European Union, the China Daily reports.

The European Commission’s 13th annual report on trade defense actions taken by non-EU countries against EU exports shows there was an increase in the number of measures in force against EU in 2015 and that cases are becoming more complex. Against this difficult background, the Commission has achieved positive results and the best outcome for EU exporters. Some persistent problems remain.

The European Commission has adopted its 13th Annual Report on third country trade defense action taken against the European Union. The report sets out the general trends, achievements and problems faced in 2015. It also gives details of the more notable cases, including supporting statistics. The report is transmitted to the Council and the European Parliament.

Most of the trade defense measures against the EU in 2015 were in anti-dumping, although there were some safeguard measures too. The number of measures in force at the end of the year was 151, compared to 140 at the end of 2014. In 2015, 37 new measures were imposed against the EU, a comparable number to those put in place the previous year.

India, China, the U.S. and Brazil are the most prolific users of trade defense instruments against the EU, but several other countries have also been active. Steel was the sector most affected, with 19 new investigations in 2015, followed by the chemical sector with 7 new investigations. The year was also marked by an increased complexity of cases due to various factors such as the ongoing debate on global steel overcapacity and, in some countries, the economic context where TDI measures may be used for political reasons and be applied for protectionist purposes.

The European Union applies high standards in its own investigations and expects its trading partners to do the same. The European Commission actively monitors third country actions and intervenes in many cases in order to avoid the EU’s legitimate market access being restricted by unwarranted measures. Thanks to this and to cooperation with the EU industry and Member States, in 2015 the EU once again managed to avoid a number of unjustified measures and minimize their negative effects in different cases originating from various countries.

Public hospitals are facing tougher scrutiny over prescriptions and tests as the government tries to find ways to cut costs and keep spending from growing more than 10% a year. Health costs have been rising at a double-digit pace for the past two decades, and the central government has admitted reforming the sector is encountering difficulties. Health care spending per capita rose an average of 17.49% a year between 1991 and 2013.

Walt Disney Co has taken three Chinese firms to court over concerns Chinese animated film The Autobots copied elements from Disney’s own hit movie Cars. The dispute was over “copyright infringement” and “unfair competition”, according to a notice on the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court website. Disney is making a major push into China with the recent opening of a USD5.5 billion theme park in Shanghai, its first in mainland China, while its animated movies, including Zootopia and Big Hero 6, have been big box office hits in the country.