Chinese property developer Evergrande averted default for the second time this month, Bloomberg reported, after making an overdue interest payment to offshore bond holders less than two weeks before a grace period expired.

The crisis at one of the nation's biggest property developers has hammered investor sentiment, rattled the key real estate market and fuelled fears of a spillover into the wider economy.

The firm is reported to have missed a series of offshore bond payments and while it had a 30-day grace period on some of them, there had been a general expectation it would not be able to meet its obligations.

But it made a key payment Thursday, Bloomberg News reported citing sources close to the situation, with international bondholders of a 9.5 percent dollar note told they had been paid.

The news will further soothe fears over the property giant's future, after the company announced Monday it had restarted work on more than 10 projects in six locations.

Last week the state-backed Securities Times said the developer had wired $83.5 million for an overseas payment first due on September 23.

Chinese authorities have also told Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin -- once the country's richest man -- to use his personal wealth to alleviate the company's debt crisis, according to media reports.

Analysts warn the fundamentals of the company remain shaky, with several other dollar bond payments to navigate before the end of the year.

Evergrande plunged into crisis after Beijing began clamping down on the country's colossal property sector -- which some estimates say accounts for a quarter of the economy -- in a bid to rein in excessive debt.

China now appears to be rolling back some of those regulations, however, with the Securities Times reporting Friday that local banks had begun easing some credit controls on homebuyers and developers in the wake of orders from the central bank.

Starbucks profits up despite China hit due to Covid-19
New York (AFP) Oct 28, 2021 - Starbucks reported a jump in quarterly earnings Thursday following higher sales in the United States and some overseas markets, but China sales were hit by the latest Covid-19 wave.

"It's just the variability of dealing with the pandemic when things like the Delta variant come up," Chief Executive Kevin Johnson told analysts, adding that customers "do return" reliably once conditions improve.

The coffee giant reported profits of $1.8 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, up more than four times from the year-ago level.

Revenues rose 31 percent to $8.1 billion.

But the company's operations in China took a hit during the quarter ending October 3 as Starbucks there faced local restrictions on movement and required health protocols due to Covid-19.

"I'm confident it is short-term and we're going to recover," Starbucks China Chief Executive Leo Tsoi said on the conference call.

Executives defended an announcement Wednesday to boost wages in the United States, the latest announcement by a large company in response to a tight labor market.

US hourly employees will average close to $17 per our following the increases in summer 2022. All employees will earn at least $15 an hour by that time, the company said.

Shares fell 3.7 percent to $109.00 in after-hours trading.

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No Roman holiday: G20 meets on climate, Covid, recovery
Rome (AFP) Oct 28, 2021
The leaders of the world's major economies gather in Rome this weekend for the first in-person G20 summit since the pandemic began, with Covid-19, economic recovery and climate change topping a packed agenda. US President Joe Biden is flying in to reiterate his message that "America is back" after four years of Donald Trump's bruising diplomacy, although Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping will attend only by video link. Their absence has lowered expectations for the summit, ... read more