MNI China Daily Summary: Monday, December 23

     BEIJING (MNI) - POLICY: China will reduce import tariff rates next year

temporarily on 859 products to optimize trade and promote economic growth,

according to a statement on the Ministry of Finance website on Monday.

     LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) injected net CNY50 billion via

14-day reverse repos with rate unchanged at 2.65%.

     RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository

institutions (DR007) fell to 1.9239% from Friday's close of 2.2153%, Wind

Information showed. The overnight repo average fell to 1.5308% from Friday's

1.7865%.

     YUAN: The currency weakened to 7.0127 against the dollar from Friday's

7.0115 close. PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.0117 from 

Friday's 7.0020.

     BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 3.1775%,

down from Friday's close of 3.1875%, according to Wind Information.

     STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.4% to 2962.75. Hong Kong's Hang

Seng Index gained 0.03% to 27878.45.

     FROM THE PRESS: China will significantly allow private businesses investing

in infrastructure and financial services and encourage competition in energy,

telecommunications, and railways, Xinhua News Agency reported citing the State

Council document supporting private enterprises. Government departments must set

a roadmap and timetable for for opening the sectors to private investment,

Xinhua said.

     China will release a three-year plan for the reform of state-owned

enterprises in the first half of 2020, the Economic Information Daily reported

citing Li Jin, executive dean of the China Enterprise Research Institute. The

plan seeks to optimize the distribution of state capital, promote mixed

ownership reform and strengthen monitoring of  of SOEs, the daily said.

     The China Banking Regulatory Commission approved the first issuance of

perpetuity for a rural community bank, Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank, which

will raise a maximum of RMB 2.5 billion through the perpetuities, China

Securities Journal reported.  Fifteen banks issued perpetuities by December

totalling RMB549.6 billion, the newspaper reported citing Wind Information. 

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

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,MBQ$$$]