MNI China Daily Summary: Tuesday, April 23

     POLICY: China will promote commercializing hydrogen-fueled vehicles in a

bid to promote the innovation and development of the hydrogen and fuel-cell

vehicle industry, said Huang Libin, a spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and

Information Technology at a briefing today. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are more

suitable for long-distance and commercial use, and can complement electric

vehicles, which serve better as urban passenger cars, Huang added.

     DATA: China has cut CNY168.6 billion personal income taxes in the first

quarter, averaging CNY855 per person, China News Service reported citing data

from the State Administration of Taxation. In total, 91.63 million individuals

were exempted from paying income tax, the newspaper said.

     LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) skipped open market operations

for the second trading day today, resulting in a net drain of CNY40 billion as

the same amount of reverse repos matured, according to Wind Information. Total

liquidity level in the banking system is reasonable and ample, according to the

PBOC.

     RATE: The 7-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository

institutions (DR007) increased to 3.2000% from Monday's close of 2.6517%,

according to Wind Information. The overnight repo average fell to 2.5000% from

2.5628% on Monday.

     YUAN: The yuan weakened to 6.7192 against the U.S. dollar from Monday's

close of 6.7125. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate at 6.7082

today, compared with 6.7035 set on Monday.

     STOCKS: The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.51% to 3,198.59. Hong

Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down to 29,963.24, little change from the close of

Monday.

     BONDS: The yield on the 10-year China Government Bond was last at 3.3950%,

down from Monday's close of 3.4100, according to brokers. 

     FROM THE PRESS: China should strengthen the countercyclical adjustment of

macroeconomic policies while keeping fiscal policies more proactive and monetary

policy "neither too tight nor too loose," according to the fourth meeting of the

Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, a top policy planner, Xinhua

News Agency reported. Policies should be timely adjusted and fine-tuned based on

changes in economic growth and inflation, Xinhua cited the commission as saying.

     China's capital market is expected to receive more systemic innovation,

including improvement in the quality of listed companies and the trading system,

more medium- and long-term funds, the issuance of credit bonds and the

establishment of a market-based default mechanism, said the PBOC-run newspaper

Financial News today. The better-than-expected Q1 economic performance shows

downward pressure on the economy has eased, so policymakers may give more

emphasis to reforms, the newspaper said.

     Rising sales and prices in China's property markets are unlikely to be

sustained as policymakers has reiterated the crackdown on housing speculation

with no prospect for easing housing regulation, said the Securities Times in a

commentary today. Monetary policy is less likely to be further relaxed as

economic indicators pointed to a better-than-expected recovery, so the liquidity

for the housing market remains tight, the newspaper said.

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

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

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