MNI China Daily Summary: Thursday, February 22

POLICY: Authorities believe Chinese consumption will show steady growth in Q1 following strong sales during the Spring Festival, according to He Yadong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted CNY58 billion via 7-day reverse repo, with the rates unchanged at 1.80%. The reverse repo operation has led to a net drain of CNY197 billion reverse repos after offsetting CNY255 billion maturity today, according to Wind Information.

RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) fell to 1.8241% from 1.8275% on Wednesday, Wind Information showed. The overnight repo average decreased to 1.6307% from the previous 1.6940%.

YUAN: The currency strengthened to 7.1887 against the dollar, unchanged from Wednesday. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.1018, compared with 7.1030 set on Wednesday.

BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 2.4500%, down from Wednesday's close of 2.4575%, according to Wind Information.

STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 1.27% to 2,988.36, while the CSI300 index was up 0.86% to 3,486.67. The Hang Seng Index was up 1.45% to 16,742.95.

FROM THE PRESS: Authorities will accelerate proceedings to enact a new law to promote the private economy, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. A recent symposium with several departments in attendance discussed the new law, which aims to address private sector concerns on property rights, fair competition, equal access to production factors, and fair law enforcement. Huang Yiping, deputy director of the National School of Development at Peking University, said private sector confidence has remained weak despite recent policy support as uncertainty over implementation remains. (Source: Yicai)

Chinese Bank net interest margin (NIM) has fallen to 1.69% in Q4 2023, dropping below 1.70% for the first time, according to data released by the State Administration of Financial Supervision. A data breakdown showed NIM of large state-owned, joint-stock, city commercial, private, rural commercial, and foreign-funded banks was 1.62%, 1.76%, 1.57%, 4.39%, 1.90%, and 1.57% in Q4 2023 respectively. Additionally, banks saw their proportion of non-interest income fall to 19.93%, the third lowest reading on record, while non-performing loan ratios reached a record high. (Source: 21st Century Business Herald)

Beijing hopes the EU can benefit more from China’s high quality development, with authorities planning to relax market access, benchmark international trade rules and clear up barriers for foreigners coming to China, according to Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister. Wang, in an interview with Chinese media, said he told the EU "reducing risks" would not lead to cooperation, and that “partnership” should set the tone of relations going forward based on mutual trust. (Source: Yicai)