China Press Digest: Monday, August 7

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following are highlights from the China press Monday,

August 7:

     A U.S.-China trade war shouldn't be an option and China isn't to blame for

Sino-U.S. trade imbalances, the People's Daily reported Monday. The U.S.'s trade

deficit with China results from international supply chains and the U.S's low

savings and high consumption, the report said. The U.S plans measures against

China's intellectual-property protection and unfair trade practices. This has

created international worries of a trade war. China must react accordingly if

the U.S. launches a trade war, the report said. A war will affect the worldwide

economy - not just the U.S. and China. (People's Daily)

     The People's Bank of China will include systemically important fintech

businesses in its macroprudential assessments, according to its 2017 Report on

China Regional Financial Operations, the Financial News, a journal run by the

PBOC, reports. Irregular operations and disordered competition in fintech will

cause risks, the report said. Regulators will strengthen policy, improve

regulations and encourage innovation and the legal operation of fintech so it

better serves the real economy, the report said. Regulators will establish a

unified and public platform to provide fintech information, the report said.

(Financial News)

     Overregulation will restrain financial-sector development and curb the

competitiveness of the sector, the China Business News reported Friday quoting

Guan Tao, a former head of the balance of payments division at the State

Administration of Foreign Exchange and now a research fellow with the 40Forum

research group. The underdevelopment of the financial sector is one of the main

problems in China and contributes to high funding costs, rising house prices and

a bearish stock market, Guan said. While focusing on preventing risks

authorities should control regulatory strength, Guan said. (China Business News)

     Deposits at commercial banks in Tier One cities fell in the first half of

this year as a result of a reduction in corporate bond financing and deposits

from nonbanking institutions under pressure to deleverage, the 21st Century

Business Herald reported Monday. Meanwhile, company loans saw an increase. They

increased in Beijing at the fastest since 2014 and outstanding loans in Shanghai

rose by 4.3 percentage points compared with that at the end of 2016, the report

said. But the growth of mortgages in Tier One cities slowed as authorities try

to curb an overheating real-estate sector, the report said. (21st Century

Business Herald)

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532 5998; email: marissa.wang@marketnews.com

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