MNI China Press Digest, April 30: Hubei, Supply Chain, Loans

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

on Thursday:

     The resumption of production and work in China's Hubei province, the

epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic, should be accelerated with a focus on

pillar industries such as automobile manufacturing, electronic information, new

materials, and biomedicine, Xinhua News Agency reported. The Xinhua report

followed the meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee late Wednesday. The

provincial government should also help solve difficulties faced by private and

small companies, and speed up the construction of infrastructure including 5G

networks, Xinhua reported. 

     China is planning to kick off a new round of policies to support

enterprises, focusing on the stability of the supply chain, the Economic

Information Daily reported. Citing Zhu Keli, Executive Dean of the New Economic

Research Institute of the Development Research Centre of the State Council, the

report said Government measures should ensure the flow of labour, logistics,

capital and data in the industrial chain, increase coordination between

different industries and regions, and also expand market demand. 

     Chinese banking regulators are considering extending repayment periods for

mortgage and credit cards, the 21st Century Business Herald reported citing a

senior executive of a large state-owned bank. Overdue rates for mortgage loans

saw a significant increase in March, while the asset quality of credit card

loans and consumer loans remained under pressure. By the end of March, the

overdue mortgage rate at the China Merchants Bank rose to 0.6%, up 0.27

percentage points from end-2019, the newspaper said. 

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

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

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