MNI China Daily Summary: Thursday, January 7

EXCLUSIVE: The growing gap between data on China's trade surplus and cross-border receipts and payments may contain a warning for investors tempted to bet on an uninterrupted appreciation of the yuan, a former senior foreign exchange regulator official told MNI, predicting that the country's trade surplus will narrow in 2021.

EXCLUSIVE: China may extend supportive lending programs for small companies beyond the first quarter given their shaky recovery, the uncertain economic outlook for the latter part of the year and to avoid hawkish signals amid attempts to normalise policy, advisors told MNI.

LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) injected CNY10 billion via 7-day reverse repos with the rate unchanged. This resulted in a net drain of CNY110 billion given the maturity of CNY120 billion of reverse repos today, according to Wind Information. The operations aim to maintain the liquidity in the banking system reasonable and ample, the PBOC said on its website.

RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) rose to 1.7172% from the 1.6911% on Wednesday, Wind Information showed. The overnight repo average increased to 0.9084% from the previous 0.6004%.

YUAN: The currency strengthened to 6.4567 against the dollar from 6.4615 on Wednesday. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate slightly higher at 6.4608. This compares with the 6.4604 set on Wednesday.

BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bond was last at 3.1750%, up from Wednesday's 3.1700%, according to Wind Information.

STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.71% to 3,576.20, while the CSI300 index rallied by 1.77% to 5,513.66. Hang Seng Index edged down 0.52% to 27,548.52.

FROM THE PRESS: China and the U.S. should revive their stalled negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty as part of efforts to improve the relationship, according to Wang Huiyao, the president of the China Center for Globalization and an advisor to the State Council. China should also immediately begin negotiations on joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to seek a dialogue platform with the U.S., which is expected to rejoin under the incoming Biden administration, Wang wrote in a commentary published in Global Times. The two powers can also seek cooperation on climate change, vaccine distribution and the North Korea issue, Wang said.

U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden should reverse the Trump administration's ban on eight Chinese Apps when assuming office as the ban was part of Trump's attempt to reverse the election outcome, the China Daily said in an editorial. China has no intention of being dragged into U.S. domestic political conflicts and the ban will hurt the interests of consumers and slow the containment of the pandemic and recovery, the Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a separate comment.

China may position its monetary policies on a "tight balance" as some local governments racked up large deficits coping with the pandemic and are struggling with mounting debts, the Shanghai Securities News commented. China should push for tax breaks and subsidies for technology innovations and high-quality development, while reforming the personal tax system and transfer payments to cater to low and middle-income groups, the newspaper said.

China's Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, has locked down its capital Shijiazhuang after 67 people tested positive for Covid-19 without symptoms, China News Service reported. Hebei has 90 active cases as of Tuesday with most in Shijiazhuang. Hebei has begun mass testing, closed highways, barred travel to Beijing and closed community centers and schools, according to China News.