MNI China Daily Summary: Wednesday, April 29

     EXCLUSIVE: China may alter its usual practice of setting a single growth

target for the year, instead doing without one or opting for a broad range to

account for Covid-19 uncertainties while still providing direction for local

authorities, an advisor to the State Council told MNI, citing his own opinions.

     EXCLUSIVE: Chinese monetary policymakers are likely to take a cautious

approach towards cutting the benchmark deposit rate to avert any rush to riskier

savings products, but should push for banks to boost lending and relax controls

on online providers of micro-finance, a counsellor at the State Council told

MNI.

     TOP NEWS: China's National People's Congress will convene in Beijing on May

22, Xinhua News Agency reported. This year's annual convention had been

postponed from March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The congress's fixtures

include Premier Li Keqiang delivering Government Work Report, which announces

annual GDP growth targets and policy priorities. MNI noted that some policy

advisors have recommended doing away with a growth target this year given the

economy was force to halt by the virus.

     LIQUIDITY: There was no shortage of liquidity in China's interbank market

through April, as the People's Bank of China ensured the continued availability

of funds for the real economy through reserve ratio requirement cuts, lower

interest rates and market operations, the latest MNI Liquidity Conditions Index

shows. The Liquidity Condition Index stood at 14.3 in April, edging up from the

10.0 recorded last month and the record low 0.0 seen in February. The lower the

index reading, the looser liquidity appears to survey participants.

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

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

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

website.

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

institutions (DR007) increased to 1.6101% from Tuesday's close 1.3807%, Wind

Information showed. Overnight repo average fell to 0.6626% from 0.8614%

yesterday.

     YUAN: The yuan strengthened to 7.0748 against the dollar from Tuesday's

close 7.0855. PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.0704 on

Wednesday, compared with 7.0710 set on Tuesday.

     BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 2.4775%,

down from Tuesday's close of 2.5002%, according to Wind Information.

     STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.44% to 2,822.44. Hong Kong's

Hang Seng Index edged up 0.28% to 24,643.59.

     FROM THE PRESS: China should accelerate new infrastructure building

including information networks that help industry upgrade and promote

employment, according to a statement on the government website following the

State Council executive meeting late Tuesday. New infrastructure should adapt to

the new demand for digital services such as virtual offices, remote education,

telemedicine, connected vehicles and smart cities. Market participants should

lead the investment, the statement read.

     Hotels in China have experienced a spike in booking as the country goes

into a 5-day public holiday starting from Friday, according to a report by

Beijing Business Today. The average hotel room price now is only 2% lower from a

year earlier, almost back at the level seen during last year's holiday season,

the newspaper said citing an anonymous source at Fliggy, a booking website owned

by Alibaba.

--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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