China Scrambles to Contain a Looming Shadow-Bank Meltdownthedigitalchaps

Chinese authorities are taking more forceful action to contain the growing financial troubles of one of the country’s biggest shadow lenders.

Police in Beijing said over the weekend that they had taken “criminal coercive measures”—a euphemism for arrests—against multiple employees of Zhongzhi Enterprise. The privately held conglomerate operates several businesses that sold investment products to many wealthy individuals and companies in China, and has struggled for months to make promised payments to investors.