MNI China Daily Summary: Friday, February 21
LIQUIDITY: The PBOC conducted CNY182.5 billion via 7-day reverse repos, with the rate unchanged at 1.50%. The operation led to a net injection of CNY84 billion after offsetting the maturity of CNY98.5 billion today, according to Wind Information.
RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) increased to 2.2156% from 2.0622% on Thursday, Wind Information showed. The overnight repo average increased to 1.9499% from 1.9460%.
YUAN: The currency strengthened to 7.2554 against the dollar from 7.2616 on Thursday. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.1696, compared with 7.1712 set on Thursday. The fixing was estimated at 7.2460 by Bloomberg survey today.
BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 1.7400%, up from Thursday's close of 1.7000%, according to chinamoney.com.cn.
STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.85% to 3,379.11, while the CSI300 index increased 1.26% to 3,978.44. The Hang Seng Index rose 3.99% at 23,477.92.
FROM THE PRESS: China must promote service consumption by improving the supply in education, medical care, culture, sports, tourism, elderly care and housekeeping, said Premier Li Qiang at a State Council meeting Thursday. It is also necessary to quicken the promotion of artificial intelligence technology and boost spending on AI terminal products, he added. Li emphasised consumption should be placed in a more prominent position to help expand domestic demand and drive economic growth, which is also a major measure for economic transformation in the medium and long term. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
The People’s Bank of China will further smooth the financing channels of stocks, bonds and loans to address the difficulty and high cost of private enterprises' financing, according to a meeting chaired by PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng Thursday. The central bank will support private enterprises to issue science and technology bonds, green bonds, asset-backed securities and other financing tools, while improving the credit enhancement system for private and small enterprises. (Source: Shanghai Securities News)
China is ready to work with the EU on implementing the recent consensus reached between top leaders and expand mutual opening-up, cooperation in green industries including electric vehicles and to handle economic and trade frictions properly, Minister of Commerce Spokesperson He Yadong said. Regarding the EU's additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, He said China has done its best to promote dialogue and consultation and hoped that Brussells would listen to the concerns of industrial leaders. (Source: Yicai)