Homeowners Rushing to Clear Their Mortgages Early Indicates New Cycles of Housing-Finance
Chinese homebuyers are enjoying an unprecedented combination of ultra-long-term mortgages and low interest rates. Although banks are issuing housing loans at an extraordinarily low rate, the demand for personal housing mortgages from residents did not immediately get out of the downturn. However, banks are under increasing pressure of early repayment.
The recent slump in real estate loans has already heaped pressure on commercial banks. Some home buyers repaid their loans early, which also put pressure on banks. It is not without reason for homeowners to repay their loans early. The main reasons include the following: lower financial management yields, widening spreads between new mortgages and existing mortgages, and uncertain future trends in property prices. There are various indications that China’s housing mortgage market is undergoing a new cross-cycle development. After more than 20 years of prosperity, China’s mortgage market has ushered in a profound change.
A Dangerous Stalemate Looms As Russia-Ukraine Conflict Enters Its Second Year
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has entered its second year. If the Russia-Ukraine conflict is resolved in full accordance with the conditions set by the West, the threat of the West to Russia will still exist and will continue to press harder and harder. Conversely, if Russia wins decisively and a peace deal is reached with Ukraine, there will be a debate within the West about who is to blame. Russia’s victory will mean a complete failure of the US containment policy towards Russia, which will cause huge troubles for the Biden administration and its successor.
Russia’s next strategic choice is crucial. From Russia’s point of view, the Russia-Ukraine conflict was a contest between Russia and Western powers from the very beginning. The more foreign aid Ukraine receives, the more it reinforces this perception among Russian elites and ordinary people alike.
China Rolls out Registration-Based IPO System to Whole Market
China’s capital market is ushering in the most important reform in the past 30 years. On February 17, China’s comprehensive registration system was officially kicked off. The release and implementation of the rules marks the finalization of the institutional arrangements for the registration-based system, and also marks the extension of the registration-based system to the entire market.
Under the comprehensive registration system, the valuation system of A-shares will change. The China Securities Regulatory Commission proposed at the working meeting that it is necessary to explore the establishment of a valuation system with Chinese characteristics to better play the resource allocation function of the capital market. The reform is not achieved overnight, and the comprehensive registration system still needs to continuously improve in the future. After more than four years of pilot run, China’s capital market reform has taken a major step to move from an approval system to a comprehensive registration-based system.
The Fever of Lithium Refinery in Yichun Finally Recedes
The rumor that a kind of white stone is valuable spreads in the village. In December 2022, in some villages in Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, men, women and children carried tools and came to the abandoned mining area, digging stones day and night. Refiners piled the stones in village fields to sell. What the villagers rushed to dig was lepidolite ore. Yichun has the largest reserves of lepidolite in the world.
In recent years, orders for new energy vehicles continued to grow, driving demand for lithium batteries and raw ore prices to rise. However, the act of mining without a license is suspected of “illegal mining”.
The local authorities quickly launched rectification actions, focusing on cracking down on illegal mining, transportation, and trading of mineral resources. With the introduction of regulatory policies, lithium prices fell, and large-scale enterprises started mass production, the investment boom quickly cooled down.
