Deals

China Rescue Loops in Top State Bank to Aid Private Firms

  • Shandong Chenming, Eternal Asia among firms benefitting
  • Debt swaps will help deleverage economy: Lianxun Securities
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Targeted efforts by China to shore up the finances of cash-squeezed companies took a fresh turn this week, with the biggest state bank throwing a lifeline to a clutch of private firms.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s largest lender by assets, has expanded a debt-to-equity swap program in wake of a record run of defaults. Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings Ltd. and Eternal Asia Supply Chain Management Ltd. each signed 3 billion yuan ($433 million) of such deals with ICBC, exchange filings showed on Wednesday. Guangdong Liantai Group also announced a similar deal on its website on Tuesday.