Can private money revive a zombie steelmaker? – China’s latest business and technology news

The Financial Times reports (paywall) that Dongbei Special Steel, a state-owned enterprise based in the northeast province of Liaoning — which “has defaulted 10 times since last year on 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) worth of bonds held by more than 100 creditors,” entered formal bankruptcy, and recently lost its chairman to suicide — is going private.

• The FT says that Shen Wenrong 沈文荣, “one of the country’s most successful private steel tycoons has agreed to invest 4.5 billion yuan ($0.68 billion) as part of a restructuring and will take over as the largest shareholder.”
• In previous infusions of private capital into large state-owned firms, “the state has typically retained its controlling share,” so Shen’s investment is an interesting departure.

It is not clear whether Shen will “have a free hand to cut costs by laying off workers” or to what extent he will have to obey signals from the government rather than the market, but if the experiment works, look to see it replicated across China’s bloated and indebted state sector.

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• Financial regulation and stability
  Zhou Xuedong rejoins central bank’s financial stability bureau as its chief / Caixin
• Pharma and automation
  Pharmacies run by robots mark Midea’s foray into health care / Bloomberg
• Beverages
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• Smartphone market
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  India passes U.S. as second-largest smartphone market after China / Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)
• The death of the phone-less camera
  Nikon Closes a China Factory as Picture Worsens for Digital Cameras / Caixin
• Big state-owned banks
  Big four Chinese banks post double-digit gains in lending income / Bloomberg
• Toutiao
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• Retail
  Staples moves closer to exiting China; seeks bids for its 13-year-old business / WSJ (paywall)
  Why the retail sector in India is surpassing China / TechNode