In today’s news brief:

Editorial: Financial difficulties at two major gym chains raise questions about Vietnamese household spending and living standards.

Infrastructure: Chinese contractor joins Vingroup’s US$3.9 billion railway project.

Banking: VPBank secures US$730 million international loan to expand business lending.

Consumer services: Citigym closes more branches as financial pressures mount.

Trade: New law proposed to regulate commodity derivatives trading.

Property: Tenfold increase in vacant land tax proposed by former deputy minister.

Crime: Nine on trial over 1.27 million counterfeit fire extinguishers.

Transport: US$6.2 billion expressway plan raises concerns over provincial budgets.

Financial regulation: Anti-money laundering supervision to tighten from December.

Shipping: Government proposes tax incentives for autonomous and low-emission vessels.

Sport: Police uncover football and basketball match-fixing network.