MNI China Daily Summary: Wednesday, January 15

     POLICY: Chinese public and private entities sold over CNY350 billion green

bonds in domestic and overseas markets in 2019, 30% more than a year ago, as the

country sought funding for projects in clean energy, environmental protection,

sustainable transportation and buildings, said Ma Jun, the Chairman of the Green

Finance Committee of the China Finance Association. Since 2016, China has in

total raised CNY1.1 trillion via the sale of green bonds, Ma said at the Asian

Finance Forum on Tuesday.

     LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China said it (PBOC) injected CNY300

billion via one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) and CNY100 billion via

14-day reverse repos. The net effect was CNY400 billion as no MLF or reverse

repos mature today, according to Wind Information. The liquidity was meant to

meet cash and tax payment demands and ensure adequate liquidity before the

Chinese New Year, PBOC said.

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

institutions (DR007) rose to 2.7867% from Tuesday's close 2.6865%, Wind

Information showed. The overnight repo average increased to 2.6876% from 2.5336%

yesterday.

     YUAN: The yuan weakened to 6.8871 against the dollar from Tuesday's close

6.8854. PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower for a forth trading

day at 6.8845, compared with 6.8954 set on Tuesday.

     BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 3.1250%,

down from Tuesday's close of 3.1300%, according to Wind Information.

     STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.54% to 3,090.04. Hong Kong's

Hang Seng Index edged down 0.39% to 28,773.59.

     FROM THE PRESS: The normalisation of U.S.-China trade relations will be

challenging given the causes of the trade war have not disappeared, the Global

Times said in an editorial late Tuesday. Many Chinese people are still concerned

that the U.S. would repeat its "tricks" should the two countries run into a

dispute in the future, the newspaper said.

     China's local governments should accelerate the issuance and the use of

special-purpose bonds to support ongoing projects and promote new projects, so

to drive effective investment, Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday citing

Premier Li Keqiang. Li also urged all departments and local authorities to make

full preparations for tough economic battles and strive for a good performance

in Q1, Xinhua said.

     China should take a gradual approach to reducing the scale of the shadow

banking sector because private companies have difficulty in obtaining loans from

banks, according to a commentary published by the Economic Daily. Financial

institutions, including banks and trusts, should improve their ability to serve

the needs of private companies, the commentator 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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