MNI China Press Digest, April 21: GDP, TMLF, Real Estate

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports

on Tuesday:

     China should set its GDP growth target for this year because abandoning it

would lead to confusion in setting goals for other economic indicators, the

Securities Times said in a front page commentary. Local authorities would lose

important references for their economic work without a national growth target,

the commentary said. Setting it as a range would give more flexibility to

policymakers in measures such as structural transformation and safeguarding

employment, according to the newspaper.

     The People's Bank of China may not roll over the CNY267.4 billion Targeted

Lending Facility (TMLF) maturing on Friday, according to a report in the China

Securities Journal. Citing Wen Bin, the Journal reported that the TMLF's aim to

boost lending to small-and-medium enterprises has been covered since the PBOC

trimmed the required the reserved-deposit ratio by 100bp for targeted regional

banks. Moreover, the current Medium-Lending Facility's rate is 20 bps lower than

the current rate of 3.15% for TMLF, sapping the demand of financing institutions

participating in the TMLF program.

     Financial institutions should make stronger efforts to ensure that cheap

loans do not flow into the real estate sector, according to a commentary

published by state news agency Xinhua. The article said some cities, such as

Shenzhen, have seen recent speculation in the real estate market and these

activities hinder the resumption of economic activity in China.

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

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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