RIYADH: China stocks posted their biggest fall in more than two months on Tuesday, as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated amid reports of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned visit to Taiwan.
Pelosi, who began her trip to Asia earlier on Monday in Singapore, was due to spend Tuesday night in Taiwan, three sources said. The US said it would not be intimidated by Chinese threats to never “sit idly by” if she made the trip to the island claimed by Beijing.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 2 percent, to 4,107.02, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.3 percent to 3,186.27 points.
The Hang Seng index fell 2.4 percent, to 19,689.21, while the China Enterprises Index lost 2.5 percent, to 6,702.07 points.
Yuan hits 11-week low
The Chinese yuan hit an 11-week low against the greenback on Tuesday as diplomatic tensions rose ahead of an expected Taiwan visit by Pelosi.
Onshore yuan touched 6.7835 per US dollar in morning trade, its lowest since May 16, before recouping some losses.
Offshore yuan fell as far as 6.7945.
China’s Taibang Biologic raises $300m
China’s Taibang Biologic Group raised $300 million to finance growth in a fundraising led by sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singapore’s GIC, the biopharmaceutical firm said on Tuesday.
Apart from Platinum Orchid, a subsidiary of the UAE’s biggest sovereign wealth fund ADIA, and GIC, new investors included state-owned China Life’s private equity arm — China Life Private Equity Investment — and Cinda Kunpeng Investment Management Co. Ltd., Taibang said in a statement.
Taibang makes and sells plasma products and was previously known as China Biologic Products Holdings, as per the statement.
The proceeds will be used to finance its expansion of plasma stations and its research and development of new products, the statement said.
The deal marks Taibang’s first equity financing transaction since the completion of its privatization in April last year by a consortium led by Chinese private equity firm Centurium Capital.
With input from Reuters
