MNI China Press Digest April 25: Tariff Cut, Monetary Policy

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

Wednesday:

     Chinese officials are drafting a guidance to expand China's imports to

further balance trade with other countries, China Securities Journal reported,

citing unidentified people with knowledge of the issue. The guidance will

include details about China's lowering duties for consumer goods such as

medicine and necessities, policies to encourage imports of advanced technology

and key machine components, the newspaper said, citing experts including Zhao

Ping, director of international trade research department at China Council for

the Promotion of International Trade. Tariff reduction should be based on

China's reality, differentiated and step-by-step to allow domestic companies to

adjust, Bai Ming, deputy head of international market research institute under

the MOFCOM, told the journal.

     China's monetary policy will likely see more minor adjustments even though

the overall principle is prudent and neutral, China Securities Journal said in a

commentary. There may be more targeted and small changes, the newspaper said. A

Politburo meeting on April 23 attended by top leaders including Chairman Xi

Jinping didn't mention controlling M2 growth, which may hint monetary policy

could lean neutral-to-loose if the economy needs it, the journal said. It is not

necessary for monetary policy to be loosened too much to prevent too much credit

in the financial market, the newspaper said.

     China must acquire critical advanced technologies such as semiconductors so

that other countries wont' be able to blunt its rise, the People's Daily said in

a commentary. China must be determined to make break-through in core

innovations; it may also import some technology and seek to advance it, the

daily said. 

***Comment: After the U.S. banned selling equipment including chips to Chinese

mobile phone maker ZTE, causing the company to halt production, China iterated

the importance of innovation and producing its own technological components such

as chips.

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

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

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