MNI China Press Digest, Aug 23: Investment, Bond, Private Firm

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

on Friday:

     Foreign investors are optimistic about the huge potential of the Chinese

market and have been increasing their levels of investment, Xinhua News Agency

said in a commentary. In the face of escalating tariff threats from the U.S.,

some foreign enterprises at the lower end of the industrial chain are shifting

some of their production out of China, which is a reasonable move in search of

lower costs, Xinhua said. China has increasingly encouraged high-quality foreign

investment to create a more diversified international trade and investment

market, the Xinhua commentary said.

     The National Development and Reform Commission has accelerated approvals

for the issuance of corporate bonds, according to a report in Securities Daily.

Citing analysts, the report said the accelerated issuance would convey the

government's intention to stabilize market demand and the rate of economic

growth. Companies would be more willing to issue bonds as the looser monetary

policy had lowered issuance costs. So far this year 97 companies have been

approved to issue more than CNY440 billion of bonds.

     China is likely to roll out more policies to ensure the full implementation

of tax and fee cuts and facilitate the financing of private companies, Economic

Information Daily reported. Regulations on optimizing the business environment

are also expected to be introduced in the near term, 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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