China Press Digest Oct 11: Commodities, Housing, Cybersecurity

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

China's authorities should keep commodity prices stable by strictly preventing speculators from misusing bank loans and trust funds to bet on products such as coal, steel and non-ferrous metals, the government-run Economic Daily said in an editorial. The producer prices index is expected to remain high as domestic commodities demand outstrips supply while high prices persist on the international markets, said the daily. The authorities should ensure prioritized funding to companies engaged in supplying thermal coal and heating, and they should support importers to ensure adequate imports to supplement domestic supply, the newspaper said. China's electricity usage boosted by heating usage is expected to surge this winter, outstripping demand peaks in the summer and last winter, said the newspaper citing the National Development and Reform Commission.

China's northeast city Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, is giving fresh graduates and new residents as much as CNY100,000 incentives and other favorable terms to courage them to buy homes and settle in the city, Yicai.com reported citing the local government. Harbin is joining many other Chinese cities seeking to arrest the falling markets, which reflects a growing divergence in China' regional housing markets, said Yicai.com. Some have published price floors to prevent developers from selling for too cheap and disrupting the markets, said the newspaper. Many Chinese cities now face the challenge of overly bearish housing markets, which cause financial difficulties for developers and impact financial stability, the newspaper said citing analysts. Harbin average new home price slid 0.3% in August from July, or 0.6% lower than a year ago, said Yicai.

China's drive for web security has entered a "fast lane," with positive progress made in many cases, the Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary. The cybersecurity agency has effectively prevented risks to national security resulting from the procurement, data treatment and overseas listings by investigating online platforms including ride-hailing Didi Chuxing Technology, logistics firms Yunmanman and online recruiter Boss Zhipin, the official news carrier said.