Hopewell's bankers, among them Hongkong Bank and Hang Seng Bank, have sunk too much cash into the company and will help Wu prevent it from going under.

CNN: HANGING ON AT HOPEWELL

One of Thursday's worst-performing stock markets in the region was Hong Kong's, where the Hang Seng Index dropped 2% to 19025.11, dragged down by bank, telecom and consumption stocks.

WSJ: Slowdown Signals Sock Asia Markets