Stress in China’s financial system continues to increase - UOB

Analysts at UOB Group explained that stress in China’s financial system continues to increase, despite a concerted government effort to lower the cost of credit and ease the burden of debt repayment.

Key Quotes:

"A Bloomberg article reported that their default database shows 23 reported cases so far in 2016, up from 17 in the first half of 2015.

The latest wave of defaults have been concentrated in the corporate bond market, with state-owned firms in the metals industry especially affected and the end result typically a missed payment rather than a back-room deal.

Looking at the sector breakdown, eight of the 23 stress incidents have been in the basic materials sector, with steel and coal both featuring.

Next up is industrial goods and services, with four defaults. That’s no surprise, as those are the sectors burdened with the highest debt and facing the sharpest drop in profits."