Bloomberg Cash-strapped Chinese companies are ramping up sales of asset-backed securities to raise funds as they face record delays in collecting payments from customers. Structured note sales backed by assets such as receivables jumped 130 percent to 455.2 billion yuan ($65.7 billion) last year, based on official data. They accounted for 54 percent of all asset-backed securities issued in …

  Bloomberg Beijing’s city government set a new target to cut toxic smog in an address setting the city’s 2017 priorities. Beijing Acting Mayor Cai Qi pledged to control PM2.5 particles — which pose major health risks because they become lodged in the lungs — within an annual average of “around” 60 micrograms per cubic meter in 2017. The target …

  Bloomberg Asia’s smallest economies are growing faster than giants like China, according to the World Bank. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will post the most rapid expansions in Asia after India from 2017 to 2019, sustaining growth rates of close to 7 percent, according to forecasts released this week. Among the least developed countries, the combined size of the three …