MNI China Daily Summary: Tuesday, March 10

     TOP NEWS: Chinese President Xi Jinping Tuesday visited Wuhan city in Hubei

province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, signalling that the top

leadership is confident the situation on ground zero is now under control. 

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

for the 16th day, leaving liquidity unchanged, according to Wind Information.

Liquidity in the banking system is reasonable and ample, PBOC said on its

website.

     DATA: China's CPI eased to 5.2% y/y in February from January's 5.4%

eight-year high, in line with forecast, data released by the National Bureau of

Statistics (NBS) showed. Food prices led the gain due to restricted

transportation and stockpiling during the outbreak, the NBS said. Producer price

index fell 0.4% y/y, reversing 0.1% rebound in January, signalling weak

industrial activities, according to the NBS.

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

institutions (DR007) rose to 2.1868% from 1.9409% on Monday, Wind Information

showed. The overnight repo average increased to 2.0061% from 1.5927%.

     YUAN: The yuan strengthened to 6.9469 against the dollar from 6.9499 on

Monday. PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate higher for the first time

in eight trading days at 6.9389 compared with 6.9260 on Monday.

     BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 2.6100%, up

from the close of 2.5225% on Monday, according to Wind Information.

     STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.82% to 2,996.76, as President

Xi's visit to the epicentre of the epidemic lifted sentiment. Hong Kong's Hang

Seng Index rallied 1.41% to 25,392.51.

     FROM THE PRESS: China will build nearly half million 5G stations by the end

of 2020, an infrastructure investment serving the key to boosting the economy,

the 21st Century Business Herald reported citing its own calculation. Aggregate

investment in 5G networks will reach CNY1.2 trillion by 2025, the newspaper said

citing a report by the China Academy of Information and Communications

Technology.

     Plunging crude oil prices can weigh on consumer prices in oil-importing

countries, while prolonged low oil prices may cause deflation and make

recoveries more difficult, according to a commentary in Economic Information

Daily.

--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

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