Country risk scores for many of the large emerging markets (EMs) continued to fall in the first months of the year. Risk scores have now reached levels that do not preclude another global shock if China hits the skids.

Corporate debt at record high; NPLs at state lenders also on rise.

Polemicists arguing either side of this coin toss abound, from water coolers to Republican primaries. Where once markets drew direction from the pronouncements of Alan Greenspan, they now rise and fall on Chinese numbers. Ironically, no one actually believes the official numbers that China puts out.

China has a future rich with potential: a liberalized currency, an open capital account, state lenders and technology giants offering innovative banking services to a vibrant private sector. But Beijing’s leaders face a growing problem: a two-speed China. Now is not the time for them to drag their feet over reform.

China has reportedly drafted a Tobin tax on foreign currency transactions – just the latest in a series of measures that appears to backpedal on financial reform. However, bulls say it’s a classic move by Beijing to limp towards reform without subjecting domestic markets to volatility.

QFII reforms will open up access to domestic stocks; China will have big weighting in EM index.

Every now and then a barometer deal comes around: one whose outcome shows the market what to expect. One such was Goodbaby China Holdings, set to be a deal that showed there was still scope to launch IPOs, even mainland Chinese IPOs, in Hong Kong, despite volatility.

The people seem to underwhelmed by the four horsemen of the Asian apocalypse.

Big names move to buyout firms; private equity ‘has money to burn’.

Gap between onshore and offshore exposed; Hong Kong dim sum market in doubt.

Market and currency turmoil weigh on growth; financial and stock market reforms needed.

It is going to be a bumpy ride for Asia and other commodity-producing economies this year.

The January fall in emerging market currencies, the exodus of foreign capital and a global bear market in equities all point to a new financial crisis. How China reacts to this threat holds the key for emerging markets.

Distrust in official data coincides with hedge-fund closures, including Nevsky Capital.

Political instability, falling commodity prices, central-bank policy uncertainties and conflict were the principal negative risk factors for investors to contemplate at the turn of the year, as China’s troubles were brought into focus by another round of financial volatility.

Arrests, disappearances and suicides rock industry; investor unease at hard-nosed Beijing.

Gao urges SOE defaults; financial reform should precede capital liberalization.

Dollar dominance continues; RMB inclusion in IMF reserve basket symbolic.

New Asia lender caps lending at $100 billion; dollars, not RMB, will fund projects.

China is pushing ahead with capital account reforms but it needs to make sure its own house is in order first.

One month in and it’s a case of so far so good for the China International Payment System (CIPS), even allowing for limitations in operating hours.

Having done well from their exposure to the RMB during the past decade, the currency’s surprise devaluation in mid-August should force Chinese companies to brush up on hedging strategies that were rusty at best, but many are instead simply focusing on opportunistic borrowing strategies.

China's quarter-point rate cut last Friday is the latest attempt to revive a flagging economy. But although currency liberalization is on the agenda in the longer term, the People's Bank of China is unlikely to be ready to cede control of the renminbi’s de facto dollar peg just yet as depreciation pressures grow.

China’s risk score fell 1.5 points, to below 60 out of 100, for the first time in almost two years in Q3 2015. With Brazil in freefall and a US interest-rate hike on the cards, investor risk is rising for many – but not all – emerging markets (EMs), complicating portfolio selection.

Beijing plan to privatise slew of SOEs: Analysts fear concentration of power.

The hubs in the New Silk Road

Overall Hard infrastructure Technology and Innovation Education Healthcare Environment Tax system Financial competitiveness

The nation’s private banking industry is blossoming, but even as it flourishes, leading players have to move fast to keep up with a changing market and an increasingly demanding and diverse client base. Euromoney gathered together a panel of private bankers, wealth managers and economists to discuss the market’s key issues in July.

Asia’s growing band of big, local investment banks won’t let short-term market fluctuations affect their planned transitions from national to regional leadership

Look beyond the gyrations of its stock markets, and you can see one thing clearly in China: equivocation. The regime of Xi Jinping is fundamentally flawed because of its public espousal of the markets, but private refusal to cede any real control. Optimists hope the latest crisis could be the impetus for real reform. Most experts warn investors hoping for a recovery in their stock purchases not to hold their breath