China Press Digest: Thursday, November 9

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

Thursday, November 9:

     The Financial News, a newspaper managed by the People's Bank of China,

stressed Thursday in a front-page commentary the importance of deepening

interest rate and exchange rate reform. For interest rate reform, the central

bank's macro-controls need to be enhanced as interest rates become more market

oriented, and the financial market benchmark interest rate system - including

the Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor), the China government bond yield

curve and the loan prime rate - should continue to be improved as references for

pricing financial products, the newspaper stressed. China also needs to further

improve the yuan exchange rate formation system by letting market pricing play a

more decisive role and strengthening the two-way movement of the currency. The

yuan exchange rate needs to remain basically stable at a reasonable and balanced

level, it added. China will further open its financial sector and provide a

fair, competitive environment for foreign financial institutions. Cross-border

capital flow management also must be improved. (Financial News)

     China's Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State

Council, which was established to coordinate the work of financial regulators,

convened for the first time earlier this week, the Xinhua News Agency reported

Wednesday night. The meeting was led by Vice Premier Ma Kai, indicating the

committee has higher political standing than the individual financial regulators

on the panel: the People's Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory

Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the China Insurance

Regulatory Commission. The meeting stressed the committee would continue China's

prudent monetary policy, strengthen coordination of financial regulation,

enhance risk controls, ensure the financial sector supports the real economy,

protect financial stability, and safeguard the rights of consumers in their

financial transactions, the report said. (Xinhua).

     Deepening cooperation and abandoning outmoded geopolitical thinking are

critical to strengthening the Sino-U.S. relationship, the official People's

Daily said in a commentary Thursday, the day after U.S. President Donald Trump

arrived in Beijing. China will continue to support world peace, contribute to

global development, and defend the international order, the commentary said.

China embraces globalization and will work towards more open, balanced, and

"win-win" development of the global economy, the government mouthpiece stressed.

China and the U.S. are not enemies and their diplomatic importance to each other

is increasing. Any attempt to prevent or restrain the further development of

China, or create an Asia-Pacific or international strategy to counter China

would not succeed and would only increase mutual doubt about each other's

strategies. As Trump's visit comes shortly after the close of the 19th Communist

Party Congress, it provides an opportunity for China and the U.S. to deepen

mutual understanding and strategic communications to create a "more magnificent

blueprint" for the two countries' relationship, the commentary said. (People's

Daily )

     Vice Premier Wang Yang discussed Sino-U.S. trade relations with U.S.

Commerce minister Wilbur Ross Wednesday afternoon, the official Xinhua News

Agency reported Wednesday night. After the discussion, the two leaders witnessed

the signing of "some of" the commercial cooperation agreements that will be

finalized during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China, Xinhua said.

(Xinhua)

     China will insist on a strategy of "quality first and efficiency as a

priority," Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council meeting Tuesday, the

official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday. China needs to nurture new

growth engines and transform its traditional growth model, further increase the

market-orientation of its economy, enhance the innovation in and competitiveness

of its economy. The premier also noted more work should be done to integrate

China's economy into the global economy while controlling potential economic and

financial risks. (Xinhua News Agency)

     The government will soon announce a series of new policies aimed at

improving private investment in China, the Economic Information Daily reported

Thursday, citing sources at the National Development and Reform Commission, the

nation's planning agency. The report noted local governments will also issue

similar policies. The policies would remove barriers on private investment,

expand private investment in large-scale infrastructure projects, as well as

direct private investment to industries with a favorable outlook, the newspaper

said. The report also noted private investment is important for the advancement

of China's economy -- private investment grew 6% in the first three quarters of

this year, 3.5 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago.

(Economic Information Daily)

     Technological innovation and green finance are increasingly becoming key

pillars advancing China's goal to create a green economy, Economic Information

Daily, a newspaper under the official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday. More

detailed policies will be issued in the near future to help the development of

the green economy, the newspaper said. Yang Weiming, deputy head of the Leading

Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, said the Ministry of Finance is

studying the creation of a "National Green Development Fund" and other

government bodies are working on measures to enhance the disclosure by listed

companies of their environment costs. Qu Shenning, a researcher at the China

Academy of Social Science, said various government departments may create a work

group to coordinate the development of green finance and add to related law

rules on green credit, green bonds and green finance to strengthen companies'

environmental responsibilities. Qu also noted a specific fund may be established

to support green development and provide subsidies to companies contributing to

technological innovation and green development. (Economic Information Daily)

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

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

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